


illuminate the darkness

by theriveroflight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artificial Intelligence, Computers, Espionage, Hacking, Inspired by The Illuminae Files, M/M, Minor Character Death, Rated For Violence, Space Battles, Swearing, Texting, Virus, background May Marigold/Joanna Greenleaf, background Robyn Hill/Fiona Thyme, it's a bloodbath you have been warned, major character death warning is not Clover, past implied Summer/Raven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:28:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 30,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29469459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: Clover awakens as Qrow is trying to get them away. "C'mon, stand up, we gotta run!"And as they're running, Clover has the absolute worst timing."You picked one hell of a day to dump me, Qrow."
Relationships: Marrow Amin & Clover Ebi, Qrow Branwen & James Ironwood, Qrow Branwen & Raven Branwen, Qrow Branwen & Robyn Hill, Qrow Branwen & Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10
Collections: Qrow Bang 2020





	1. swallowed by the darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Split in approximately half for convenience.
> 
> This was created for the Qrow Bang, whose minimum was 5k.
> 
> Yeah...I overshot. By a lot.
> 
> Thanks to[ Gray](https://grisoleil.tumblr.com) for contributing this excellent artwork, included in work, to Amber & Otter for creating this event (and extending the deadline), and to all the friends I sprinted with and/or shared snippets with for their encouragement.
> 
> Content warnings for this segment: arguing, breakups, minor character death, alcohol, violence (slightly more than canon-typical), lots of swearing
> 
> The characters of RWBY belong to Rooster Teeth. The Illuminae Files is by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. Some quotes are directly taken from there, but a majority of the writing is original. (P.S. You should _totally_ check out The Illuminae Files, though be warned that this story is the entirety of the first book of the trilogy and thus contains major spoilers if you want to proceed in that direction.)
> 
> Titles all from the RWBY soundtrack.

Breaking up with Clover Ebi was only just the _start_ of the worst day of Qrow Branwen's life.

Nobody goes to Beacon 1124 because they _want_ to. Nobody goes there because they're looking for some ideal tourist destination - no, they only go if they have business.

Raven is studying on the science vessel here, and he transferred to the university here to follow her - he's always been more of a learner. They only have each other left, after all.

And…he met Clover. As far as it goes, there are worse people.

But Qrow still wants to get out once he gets his degree. There's no one that could keep him. And Clover...Clover had something, some _one_ that kept him on Beacon 1124. They couldn't stay together when Qrow eventually would leave. Raven encouraged him to go off on his own.

But then in their shared CompSci class, the _alarm_ starts blaring. The evacuation one.

He runs out the door to his stupid truck and starts driving, just to get _out_ and _away._ He can see the ship in the sky - the _Crocodile,_ with the Inner Circle Dust Company's logo.

He almost runs into someone blocking his way before realising it's Clover.

"Lovely day for a drive," Clover says, waving. And then the anti-missile battery gets vaporized with what Qrow can only assume is a missile, so those things are pointless.

"Get in," he shouts. "I almost ran you over."

Clover gets in the truck and pulls the door shut. Qrow does his best not to faceplant on the steering wheel.

He's held up in a bit of traffic, despite driving as fast as he can go. The roads are catastrophic. There are some literal holes, cars falling into ravines as they open underneath. Qrow just hopes the two of them won't end up inside one of them.

Clover fiddles with the dial. _Stupid fucking idiot,_ he thinks. Probably trying to get a getaway soundtrack or something. But then they hear an emergency broadcast, and Qrow breathes a mental sigh of relief. Maybe they _will_ make it out of this without getting killed.

Head to the spaceport. They'll get as many people out as they can.

And then a missile hits the spaceport. Fucking hell, Qrow is not mentally right for this.

"We need to go find Elm," Clover says. "She's at the mines."

"I want to head to the med center and find Raven," Qrow answers. Raven was probably the most pleased about their breakup, and Elm the least so. "I know that she isn't really fond of you, but I don't give a shit about her opinion on who I date, she's made her share of bad choices too. There are going to be a lot of people heading out of the mines to evacuate and towards them to find cover, because the ICDC won't attack them if they want to get the Dust there." He dodges another fracture in the planet's icy ridge. "Besides, we won't get there on time."

Clover nods, and they keep driving.

Pieces of buildings fall on top of the roads. The sound of alarms and explosions and screaming pierces his ears, and on _top_ of that, Clover is criticizing his driving.

"I'd like to see _you_ do better!" he exclaims, jerking the wheel aside to avoid a crash of debris.

And then the cineplex collapses on top of them. Well, mostly Clover, but both of them.

He drags Clover out of the wreckage, feeling utterly _drained_ by having been unconscious for...some time, not long because the sun hasn't moved enough to make a huge impact. The windshield is shattered above them, the airbags are deployed, and he bets both of them are feeling like garbage.

There's some kind of smog over the refinery. A big glacier is beginning to fracture. And there are ICDC troops coming.

Clover awakens as Qrow is trying to get them away. "C'mon, stand up, we gotta run!"

And as they're running, Clover has the absolute worst timing.

"You picked one hell of a day to dump me, Qrow."

"You really have the worst timing, huh? I should never have…" _I should never have come close,_ Qrow thinks. "I never should have gotten together with you. It's all too clear that you're _not_ the good luck charm that I was looking for. I'm leaving - with or without you."

"Stay," Clover says, grabbing his wrist. "Stay."

He rips his wrist out of Clover's hand. "Not when you refuse to _let go."_

"You want to find your sister, you aren't letting go either!"

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

"Then, what, pray tell, are you talking about? I'd love to know."

"Whatever the hell is keeping you here! Whatever you feared enough to let it bind you to this forsaken place."

"I like this place! What do you _think_ is keeping me here?"

"You're _afraid,"_ Qrow spits. Clover runs away, towards the mine.

That idiot is going to get himself shot. But he doesn't have to care.

Qrow starts heading to the medical facility. But the ICDC has roots spanning wide and far, and they're already rolling out the troops. He thinks their uniforms make them look like animals.

But he can see the labs. Shuttles are there, evacuating people. Hopefully the ICDC goons don't get there before Raven can get away. But _he_ won't get there. Not without another vehicle.

He sees a truck. License plate B3W0LF. The insignia of the ICDC on the hood and on the door. A couple soldiers get out of the truck, and Qrow makes his move. He's scrappy in the fight, more than he needs to be, but brutalizing the people that want to kill him is forgivable in his mind.

He drives over them, mowing down anyone he needs to. He knows the settlement better than _any_ soldier could, and that makes all the difference in this fight. The doors scrape off as he goes through a tight alley.

He's left alone, with the protection of the ICDC logo on the hood. But it won't last long.

And then he sees Clover again. "Hey," he calls, skidding as he pulls up next to Clover, who looks simultaneously shitty and charming. "Get in."

"Help me up?"

Qrow gets up as much as he can and holds out his hands. Clover grabs his wrists and together, Clover gets in the truck. There's no door left, and it's cold as hell, but…they can make a break for it.

* * *

The truck becomes more curse than blessing as they approach the evacuation site. So Qrow, ever adaptable, grabs Clover and drags him out of the truck, towards the shuttles.

"He needs to be med-evac'd. His arm is broken," he explains to the first official he sees. "I'm Qrow Branwen, you probably know my sister Raven?"

"Yeah, okay, sure. You're healthy, though?"

"Got a little banged up, but nothing major."

And that is how they separate, Qrow feeling all too blank and Clover on the verge of falling unconscious.

* * *

They allow everyone a little rest before they start the interviews. Qrow feels like he's going through the motions, recounting what happened on Beacon 1124. He just kind of...shuts down.

Not that he wants to go back to the bottle, but if there were ever a time to go back to that past addiction, this certainly was it. There isn't much alcohol to be found on a spaceship running away from a little icy shithole in the middle of nowhere in terms of the universe, where the only thing special about it is the Dust underneath the ice.

If he just lets it all go by him, maybe it'll be over soon. Let himself fall into the blur.

That sounds like a perfectly sound coping strategy. He rolls his eyes.

* * *

He sort of manages to forget about Clover a little bit. He's with Raven again, so at least _something_ has righted itself in this godforsaken world.

But then, just over two weeks after the attack (he's been counting the days, it's one of the only ways he allows himself to be grounded), Clover sends him an email.

_Hey Qrow,_

_It's been announced that almost everyone across the fleet has been provided with a communications account. So I hope you are able to receive this._

_I am on the military ship. The_ Alexander, _I believe. And I'm not sure if information flows the same between the ships, but there's nothing here. Everyone's in the dark._

_My shoulder is feeling better now, at least, even if I am still stuck in medical. I have heard some rumors, but nothing solid. I'm holding onto hope still that we're just a few days out from the wormhole, or the rest of the fleet._

_I don't know what I can do to fix what happened between us. If there is anything I can do. But if there is, tell me, and I will do my best to provide._

_Glad you and Raven made it out, and you're together._

_Happy Valentine's Day._

_Clover_

Of course there's a little bit of implication, but he heard that Clover lost Elm - Qrow is the only connection he has left. Qrow understands wanting to keep as much as he has.

* * *

A few days later, he sits down at his system, and starts looking for whatever came of that interview. The profile they got of him. Whatever they have for the others, whatever plans the military might have for them.

Atlas. Qrow knows they're the world humanity originated from, but do they really have to have such a _superiority complex?_

He manages to get in, for just a bit, and then goes to cover his tracks. He makes a mistake along the way, but he quickly fixes it before going to _really_ cover his tracks.

That's when he receives the message.

_You've been very busy, bird. I've got an interesting piece of hacking, if you're willing to listen. There are over eight thousand people on board. Each person has their own skills applicable to this. Chirp all you want, but I know you're not that experienced in this field. Break into shell ref 436HT:904XQJ and I'll show you what's out there._

A ghost ID. Well, it's beyond him to say that he's not interested in a mystery.

* * *

It takes him just under an hour and a half. He's always been a spy - but he only just got into computers while studying at Beacon University for his next degree.

_BiBiBirdie: this all u got?_

_ByteByrd: good job newbie_

_BiBiBirdie: who are you?_

_ByteByrd: someone you can trust. like I said u don't just teach urself_

_BiBiBirdie: everything has a cost. what do u want?_

_ByteByrd: nothing but ur time, really. for the people upstairs, plenty of cost. we might be civis here but we still have the right to be informed_

_ByteByrd: you want to join the fight? won't be easy. but we could all die too._

_BiBiBirdie: who else is out there_

_ByteByrd: doesn't matter now. been watching u poke around. u want to know too. can give you what you need to find_

_BiBiBirdie: well, that isn't scary or creepy at all_

_ByteByrd: it's an offer, birdie. take it or leave it._

_BiBiBirdie: oh, I'm taking it._

_ByteByrd: then let's get started._

* * *

He quickly learns that the person behind the pseudonym ByteByrd is Robyn Hill, a chiphead on their ship. Their relationship is mostly mentor-apprentice (at least for now), so they don't go far beyond that.

And then Clover sends him another email.

_Hey Q,_

_I am uncertain if you'll receive this. You didn't respond to my last letter, so you're either ignoring me or something is wrong with the computer system and you aren't getting these._

_It was my birthday recently. Couldn't find anything to celebrate with -- resources are in short supply, and other people need them more than I do._

_They have all the newcomers doing tests. VR sims, psychological analyses, physical examinations. I suspect that they're looking for people to conscript. Many of the other Beacon refugees have already been - they're desperate, and I'm pretty sure they'll be looking at me next._

_I don't mind going into the military if it means I can help save us all from death at the hands of the ICDC._

_I dreamt about you last night. Not in an inappropriate way, before you start teasing. If you were going to._

_It was during the evacuation. I went up to your truck, knocked against the side, ran to keep up with you…but you just ignored me. And we got to a stop, and I yelled at you, and you just drove off and left me there. And there's a copy of me sitting next to you, laughing._

_Do you subscribe to the idea that dreams have meaning? Because I can't figure this one out. But maybe it's a sign that we aren't meant to be._

_Anyways, I hope your dreams are better than mine, and that you're doing well overall._

_Clover_

* * *

He gets into the files. Clover's been conscripted - despite some factors that would normally make him unable.

A lot of the Beacon conscripts have that in common. PTSD from the experience of the attack, that would normally make them unable to fight - but they all have experience in something Atlas needs.

Qrow tries not to be too mad about it. He fails.

* * *

Group counseling is terrible. They're assigned based on rooming arrangements, and he feels bad for the poor person placed in charge of talking to them about mental health, because he's one hell of a fuckup and he'd be willing to put money on the fact that everyone else on their ship is, too.

Raven is transferred to the _Nicholas,_ too. So there goes some of his support. Not that he leans on Raven too much - they aren't particularly close, even after all this time.

He sends in a request to be transferred to the _Nicholas_ to be with Raven. Transfer requests based on family relation typically get approved.

But his request gets denied.

* * *

He puts in another one, a week or so later.

It gets rejected again. Despite all the precedent saying that he should be.

The possibility that Raven didn't want him to come…Qrow refuses to think about it. 

He gets a message from her the next day.

_Qrow,_

_Realized I've been neglecting my baby brother a little bit. Not something I should do again, yeah?_

_Don't try and come over here. There's some classified stuff, I can't tell you about it and you wouldn't believe me anyways. Some crazy shit._

_It's been just over two months since whatever happened. If you're still moping over Clover, I would suggest making up with him. You never know what's going to happen. And if it backfires, well, you guys aren't on the same ship, so it won't matter anyways._

_R._

Well, at least it was good to hear from her.

_Raven,_

_We're twins, bitch, your two minutes mean nothing in the grand scheme of things._

_Well, my transfer requests keep getting rejected, so I probably won't be, but maybe third time's the charm._

_Who am I kidding, it never is._

_Clover's way ahead of you on that end. And I thought you hated him?_

_Q._

He doesn't tell her about how he's learning to commit cybercrime - they could always be watching. Then again, if they were looking, they might have caught him by now and put him with the other chipheads.

And his third request gets rejected, so maybe he's living up to his name again. Shit out of luck.

_Q,_

_Everything is really busy right now. This has been accumulating in my drafts for the past few days._

_They have more work than I expected here. Things are more serious than I thought. I'll be fine, though. Hazmat suits and all._

_The_ Explorer _is a better ship anyways if you want to keep being an academic or whatever._

_I don't hate Clover. Don't tell him that, though._

_Best of luck (for whatever it's worth),_

_Raven._

* * *

_Qrow_

_I know I don't get drink that often but you gotta listen to me_

_Or well I'm not gonna send this till just be everything I want to but can't say to you_

_I know you hate when people are drunk around you which is why im not sending this I promise been cleared to fly a manta holy shit what has this world come to that they need me flying a manta j swear_

_Was wondering a lot why you never mailed me back was looking forward to reading your replies to my bs only to check daily nd find nothing from you_

_Going to go to sleep now I guess not looking to43ard to waking ihdeininecinefnjrfi_

_Been six months since the invasion still can't stop thinking abt you as much as I 2ant to, think im still in love and you not mailing me back hurts_

_anyways hopefully your'e having a better night than me_

_your good luck charm I hope still_

* * *

He doesn't know about the _Nicholas_ incident until after it happens. But he suspects something when he tries to reply to Raven, over and over, and it never goes through. The system doesn't let it, and he doesn't know how to get through.

The ship he's on board, the _Explorer,_ seems to want to cover it up more than anything. But they can't have anyone believing that the military doesn't know the way, can they? That would be bad for their propaganda aim, after all.

It makes sense as to _why_ they'd want people to remain complacent at the moment. A mutiny when they have a common enemy behind them is suicide, after all.

But if what they're saying isn't the truth…what is?

Maybe Robyn is just getting to him. But maybe there _is_ a conspiracy to cover up something big. Something that would decrease morale…

He pulls out his device.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: you catch that announcement? total BS_

_ByteByrd: big surprise, authority lying to us. should have seen it coming_

_BiBiBirdie: wdym_

_ByteByrd: should have started digging when comms went down over there. "maintenance" my ass_

_BiBiBirdie: so they're hiding something, gotta figure out what._

_ByteByrd: got anything?_

_BiBiBirdie: working on it. things are really laggy on the Alexander end of things. system busy. I think they have their main engines off but WHY would they_

_ByteByrd: tick tock_

_BiBiBirdie: if you can do any better then by all means_

_ByteByrd: sorry, didn't mean to pressure you. u good?_

_BiBiBirdie: found something. court martial list_

_ByteByrd: ...what_

_ByteByrd: court martial list?_

_BiBiBirdie: they're court martialing all those pilots that saved people on the nicholas_

_ByteByrd: what the hell_

_BiBiBirdie: got the records here, can send if necessary._

_BiBiBirdie: now tell me why would they do that if they were under orders_

_ByteByrd: not the only mystery out there I'm afraid_

_ByteByrd: looking for anything proving the Crocodile was ever close enough. scans say she's still far away far as I can tell_

_BiBiBirdie: so no attack from ICDC + our pilots court martialed. does this mean it was our guys that took out the nicholas?_

_ByteByrd: fuck me, you're right_

_BiBiBirdie: ew no but thank you_

_ByteByrd: getting stranger & stranger. gotta find a survivor list _

_BiBiBirdie: that doesn't matter_

_ByteByrd: ofc it matters_

_BiBiBirdie: don't need to know._

_ByteByrd: u need to know who made it off_

_BiBiBirdie: I need to know who was responsible for destroying the Nicholas_

_ByteByrd: I know we can both kinda suck at communication but if u wanna talk_

_BiBiBirdie: need you to tell me what you're finding_

_ByteByrd: ...something strange_

_BiBiBirdie: what is it_

_ByteByrd: can't get a read on JAMES. thought I was hitting an ICE wall but it's more like no one's home…_

* * *

Well. Clover is in danger - they might rule for him to _die_ in court. The military knows no mercy.

No better time to reach out then now. Hopefully Clover won't find the timing suspicious.

He stretches his fingers, and starts writing.

_Hey Clover,_

_This is the 7th time I've tried writing this email. I still can't get down what I want to say correctly. Well, lucky number seven, huh? Just gonna…send this one out and hope for the best._

_I didn't mean to ignore you. Things are sort of crazy all the time. I should have. You don't think, when you break up with your boyfriend, that your planet will be invaded the next day. I was angry. I'm…not as mad anymore. Just funny that it took an invasion to get you to leave._

_You said maybe we're not meant for each other. Maybe you're right - but fate isn't what matters. If we're not_ made _for each other, we can still fight to stick together._

 _Still on the_ Explorer. _They have me doing intel training. Since I heard about what happened with the_ Nicholas _I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I'm still not sure how I feel about you. But I wanted to check in. Hope you're doing okay._

_Qrow._

He doesn't hold his breath for a reply, though -- after all, it took him too long to reply to them.

But Clover is more timely with his replies (and maybe that's on Clover having nothing to do after getting court martialed).

_Hey Qrow!_

_This one took me thirteen tries, so I think I've got you beat._

_Not sure if you read my other emails, so I'll summarize: I've been on the_ Alexander _since the invasion. They have me flying a Manta in the air force. Got scooped up by the forces as soon as they could get me._

_I did make it off, in the end, but probably not like how you wanted, huh? I don't think anything's gone according to plan since that first missile hit Beacon._

_I know you think you're a rebel, but we're doing some real good here. I think you should stick with the training, because I'm not sure how good you've gotten in the past six months, but it'll make you better too._

_I have to go now. Got something important now._

_It's been good to hear from you, to be honest. Don't be a stranger._

_Clover_

_P.S. "Drunk" mail wasn't me. Someone on my squad decided to play a prank on me. You know I wouldn't, after everything._

* * *

Qrow attempts a few more lackluster replies, but answering is something that he can cling to. _Clover_ is something he can cling onto right now, because he doesn't have a lot left. He might not have Raven. He can't meet Robyn in reality, because that would be a little suspect. And Clover…okay, he broke up with Clover, but there's no time like the present to rekindle their relationship.

He deletes the first few on purpose. But the rest…the rest don't get sent. By the system, not him.

He takes a deep breath.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: you there?_

_BiBiBirdie: ping_

_BiBiBirdie: ping_

_ByteByrd: fuck me, I'm here, what's happening???_

_BiBiBirdie: in your wildest dreams also ping the alexander_

_ByteByrd: was trying to find survivor list_

_BiBiBirdie: told you, that isn't important. ping the alexander_

_ByteByrd: y don't u want 2 know?_

_BiBiBirdie: for brothers' sake, just ping the alexander_

_ByteByrd: ok going_

_BiBiBirdie: well???_

_ByteByrd: trying_

_BiBiBirdie: and???_

_ByteByrd: can't_

_BiBiBirdie: I KNOW_

_ByteByrd: huh?_

_BiBiBirdie: comms are down_

_ByteByrd: systems check maybe?_

_BiBiBirdie: no, they all went out at the same time. when it's a check they go out one by one so all of them aren't out at once. was waiting for court martial results when it happened_

_ByteByrd: checking up on ur bf?_

_BiBiBirdie: lay off_

_ByteByrd: but the only thing you know to be real is your love for him…_

_BiBiBirdie: oh so you're quoting songs now_

_ByteByrd: I am not great at romance idk why I have a gf tbh_

_BiBiBirdie: since when????_

_ByteByrd: wait no that was supposed to be a secret shit_

_BiBiBirdie: anyways it was the best way I could think of to find out wtf happened on the nicholas_

_ByteByrd: ok_

_BiBiBirdie: they cut the link. like they did to the nicholas_

_ByteByrd: I don't like how this looks either. But I have some new info._

_BiBiBirdie: what is it?_

_ByteByrd: there are definitely survivors on the Alexander. cyclones landed in bays 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6_

_BiBiBirdie: was not expecting math_

_ByteByrd: come on it's easy_

_BiBiBirdie: ok ok I can totally do this_

_BiBiBirdie: bay 4?_

_ByteByrd: yep. got the survivors_

_BiBiBirdie: ok so we got them, but why are they in isolation?_

_ByteByrd: patience, trying to find more info_

_ByteByrd: only one person here._

_BiBiBirdie: wonder why they cut us off. are we next?_

_ByteByrd: be careful going after that info. they catch you, you'll end up shot_

_ByteByrd: and just because ur bf might be doesn't mean it's worth the risk_

_BiBiBirdie: you're getting paranoid_

_ByteByrd: you want to stay alive, don't you?_

* * *

Well, if Qrow is going to go after the info, he needs a better way in.

He'll need to go plant a seed in the systems. It'll get him a better way into the systems, make him do less work with brute force and save him some time.

Because time, right now, is of the essence.

Sneaking into the server room is easier than he thought it would be. The techies in there all look bored, and perk up a little when he triggers a false alarm.

He drops down from the ceiling to type quickly at one of the newly free stations, better than the console he was issued.

He makes some edits to the program on the USB he's put into the computer, and then runs it. The program takes some time to look for any errors within, and then it runs, going into the communications system, and allowing him a backdoor to get into the secure frequency the commanders have to communicate.

And then the alarm stops.

Well, shit.

Qrow scrambles to cover his tracks, roughly unplugging the USB and going towards the door, when everyone walks in.

"What are you doing here?" the instructor asks.

He fumbles for an answer. "I got lost and stumbled in here."

They glare at him a little bit, but eventually acquiesce, and allow him to leave.

At least he made it out of there. Now the hard work really begins.

* * *

"So," the counselor says, and he sounds _entirely too excited_ (which Qrow cannot possibly relate to), "today we are going to be talking about seeing what's underneath."

He despises these sessions. They don't do anything useful - people are normally too afraid to say anything, and the time could be spent doing something more productive.

"People often put on a front to hide what's going on underneath. We're going to be going over how to get under those fronts to see what's really going on."

Qrow feels his nails dig into his palms. He wants to snap at their counselor, but he knows that the counselor's in a similar position as them, thrown into something they could never imagine doing.

"And what would you do, Mr. Branwen?"

"Leave them alone," Qrow answers. "People put on fronts for a reason. The person will open up when they're ready."

It probably isn't the answer that the counselor wants, but it's what Qrow believes, in the end, and he doesn't want to let go of that.

What does he have left, if not belief? He's lost a lot of what he used to have. He has people, and he has his convictions, and he can't afford to lose either.

He doesn't focus for the rest of the session. Whatever the poor counselor says flies right over his head.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: Clover, are you there?_

_Ebi, Clover: Who are you?_

_BiBiBirdie: its Qrow_

_Ebi, Clover: Hello, May. Your timing is as awful as your sense of humor._

_BiBiBirdie: who's may?_

_Ebi, Clover: My question is how you managed to learn about him. I mean, I know Atlas doesn't judge on orientation because you're here, but…_

_BiBiBirdie: I have no idea who May is. It's me Clover. And we only have 7 minutes or else we get caught_

_Ebi, Clover: Prove it._

_BiBiBirdie: you were so afraid of my sister at 1st that once you jumped out of the window to avoid meeting her again. and then you broke your arm_

_Ebi, Clover: ...it really is you._

_BiBiBirdie: indeed it is_

_Ebi, Clover: I feel bad. But also, what are you doing? I thought intership comms were down._

_BiBiBirdie: I've been learning to hack._

_Ebi, Clover: This is some seriously illegal stuff, Qrow. If you get caught you could DIE_

_BiBiBirdie: short bursts, text only, under 7 minutes and we'll be undetectable. It'll be fine. command always leaves themselves a little space for a heart 2 heart_

_Ebi, Clover: Is…that what this is?_

_BiBiBirdie: not sure. do you know why comms are down?_

_Ebi, Clover: All nonessentials are offline while the computer techs work on things. We have life support and power, that's it._

_BiBiBirdie: with the AI, I presume? is something wrong with it?_

_Ebi, Clover: I shouldn't talk about what little I know. We could face some serious blowback._

_BiBiBirdie: I think we're already eye to eye with "serious". u ok?_

_Ebi, Clover: Why wouldn't I be?_

_BiBiBirdie: I know what happened. this isn't the only thing I've hacked into_

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow, with all due respect, what the HELL are you doing?_

_BiBiBirdie: You know, I really wasn't aware of the trouble I could get in w/ this..._

_Ebi, Clover: I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not._

_BiBiBirdie: of COURSE it's sarcasm_

_Ebi, Clover: I mean, you have always been rather flippant with the rules..._

_BiBiBirdie: Speaking of being flippant with the rules, saw what you said to them. I'm impressed._

_Ebi, Clover: Um. Why?_

_BiBiBirdie: you don't exactly have a long history of telling the man to go fuck himself_

_Ebi, Clover: It was admittedly idiotic. They could have imprisoned me for that stunt._

_BiBiBirdie: the kind of stupidity I like ;)_

_Ebi, Clover: >//< _

_Ebi, Clover: Perhaps I should consider doing it more, then._

_BiBiBirdie: no use in prison. can't pilot a manta from the hole_

_Ebi, Clover: You're right._

_BiBiBirdie: I'm sorry about Elm, btw. know you guys were close_

_Ebi, Clover: It's fine. You don't have anything to apologize for. Give Raven my regards, by the way._

_BiBiBirdie: how long has everything been offline?_

_Ebi, Clover: Shouldn't have told you that in the first place._

_BiBiBirdie: not exactly planning on telling anyone about highly illegal conversation. but they're lying 2 us and u know that. should we just wait for you guys to take us out next?_

_Ebi, Clover: You aren't in danger. No one is sick over there, yeah?_

_BiBiBirdie: not afaik. what does that have to do with it_

_Ebi, Clover: As long as no one's sick, you all should be fine. Don't worry about it._

_BiBiBirdie: so what, I should just sit by and let them lie to all of us?_

_Ebi, Clover: Sometimes the truth is more risky. They're trying to avoid panic._

_BiBiBirdie: knowing that we could be next is more nerve-wracking_

_Ebi, Clover: Leave it alone. I want you to be safe._

_BiBiBirdie: We're already skating on thin ice. I'd rather everyone be aware that we are even if I fall through_

_Ebi, Clover: I understand. I really do. I just…wish I were over there with you._

_BiBiBirdie: it isn't worth it_

_Ebi, Clover: 7 minutes must be up soon._

_BiBiBirdie: talk to you tmrw?_

_Ebi, Clover: I'll be here._

_BiBiBirdie: don't do anything too idiotic, leave that to me._

_Ebi, Clover: It'll be okay._

_BiBiBirdie: now if only that were true_

* * *

He terminates the connection. It's the safest way to ensure that that they don't get discovered.

Now he has to report his success.

* * *

_ByteByrd: so it was a success?_

_BiBiBirdie: 7 minute burst, no signs of detection_

_ByteByrd: he know what's up?_

_BiBiBirdie: isn't telling me if he does_

_ByteByrd: he know about the ai?_

_BiBiBirdie: it's down? and that's abt it_

_ByteByrd: so go digging_

_BiBiBirdie: it's not like that. can't go straight to lawbreaking. clover isn't the most...rebellious person_

_ByteByrd: so why do it?_

_BiBiBirdie: to know that I can. now I have to decide how much to involve. want him 2 be safe_

_ByteByrd: nobody's safe atm. can't spare him_

* * *

He takes a deep breath and decides to get a snatch of sleep.

It isn't much, when he wakes up.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: 7 mins starts now. u here?_

_Ebi, Clover: For you? Always._

_BiBiBirdie: wish that were true back then. how r things on your end? tense over here_

_Ebi, Clover: Confusing, really._

_BiBiBirdie: they're still saying comms r down to help us hide._

_Ebi, Clover: Oh, you meant the physical ship._

_BiBiBirdie: did JAMES crash or did we take it down?_

_Ebi, Clover: A bit of both, as I recall. Why?_

_BiBiBirdie: I'm worried & one third of our fleet is gone. why else? _

_Ebi, Clover: Well. We can both be afraid._

_BiBiBirdie: I did not expect our reunion to go like this tbh. No more info?_

_Ebi, Clover: I'm a low-level pilot. What do you expect?_

_BiBiBirdie: I can't believe you are sometimes_

_Ebi, Clover: Could never have foreseen it huh? At least we both got offworld. Not that…these are ideal conditions._

_BiBiBirdie: guess we should time our drama better_

_Ebi, Clover: Or just not have drama altogether so we don't have to worry about timing it_

_BiBiBirdie: speaking of timing 2 mins left_

_Ebi, Clover: Well. Talking is better than not, and infinitely better than shouting._

_BiBiBirdie: sorry that there was a lot of it_

_BiBiBirdie: I get what ur saying now. I gotta go._

_Ebi, Clover: I'll see you again?_

_BiBiBirdie: if you leave this window open and send in it, I'll get the messages when I connect again. like a mailbox._

_Ebi, Clover: Did I say something?_

* * *

Clover sends him an apology. Qrow isn't sure he deserves it. Clover didn't do anything wrong, after all.

But it certainly does look pretty. Apology roses are a cliche - but Clover, he recalls fondly, was always fond of those.

He wonders.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: you there?_

_Ebi, Clover: Of course._

_BiBiBirdie: all good over there?_

_Ebi, Clover: Doing flight sims. Mostly just…bored. That exciting?_

_BiBiBirdie: more exciting than whatever happens here_

_Ebi, Clover: I'm glad._

_BiBiBirdie: you always were a dork_

_Ebi, Clover: your dork <3 _

_BiBiBirdie: think I miss u more now than we weren't talking_

_Ebi, Clover: So absence really does make the heart grow fonder, huh?_

_BiBiBirdie: and paralyzing danger, wouldn't want to forget that part_

_Ebi, Clover: I didn't want to mention it. We're already putting ourselves in a lot of danger._

_BiBiBirdie: personally, danger IS pretty sexy_

_Ebi, Clover: I spent hours on that rose. That knowledge in the hands of certain officials over here wouldn't go over well._

_BiBiBirdie: well ur courting behavior was always ridiculous_

_Ebi, Clover: You know it._

_BiBiBirdie: notthatwearecourting ajnasjkdskjbjds_

_BiBiBirdie: you should get some rest. just in case we're attacked by that ship we're nowhere near y'know_

_Ebi, Clover: Might be closer than you think. We had to reaccelerate on secondary engines after the AI was shut down._

_BiBiBirdie: then why aren't they trying to get it back???_

_Ebi, Clover: See previous comments about me just being a flyboy._

_BiBiBirdie: makes me antsy to not know_

_Ebi, Clover: They're probably waiting to bring it back on until we're safer with than without._

_BiBiBirdie: our 7mins are almost over. talk again soon?_

_Ebi, Clover: Not too soon. Wouldn't want to give off the wrong impression._

_BiBiBirdie: wouldn't want you to get any ideas about the status of our relationship ;)_

_Ebi, Clover: Talk to you soon. And, I don't really know if I want to take this risk, but tell Raven I said hi?_

* * *

He needs to figure out why they shut down the AI. What exactly is going on over on the _Alexander._

But the hack isn't easy, not from his end on the other ship, even with all the knowledge he's gained, even with the backdoor he has.

Time to ask Robyn.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: how much voltage does it take to kill the average human_

_ByteByrd: do I want to know_

_BiBiBirdie: trying to jack into the ship's processing speed by splicing my deck into the virtual grid._

_ByteByrd: for whatever my guidance is worth u can't brute-force this. need work done on the other end_

_BiBiBirdie: this may blow your mind but I am not on the other end_

_ByteByrd: should I point out the obvious?_

_BiBiBirdie: absolutely not._

_ByteByrd: then why the effort?_

_BiBiBirdie: it isn't like that_

_ByteByrd: so it's ~special~_

_BiBiBirdie: don't give me that crap you have her_

_ByteByrd: a lot's on the line. find a way to get him to agree to do it on his end_

_BiBiBirdie: he isn't gonna know how_

_ByteByrd: then teach_

_ByteByrd: so much is at risk. if you aren't cultivating him to find out what's underneath, why are you risking talking to him?_

_BiBiBirdie: easy for you to say when your gf is on the same ship as you_

_ByteByrd: stay on task. if we let the Alexander blow us up your burning love will be put out by a much bigger fire_

_BiBiBirdie: sometimes I wonder how the hell you managed to snag a girlfriend_

_ByteByrd: you wouldn’t understand what being a lesbian is like_

* * *

The counselor asks them to think about life going on and the existence of a future. Qrow doesn't know if there will be one, even if they manage to beat the _Crocodile_ \- who's to say that the ICDC hasn't stranded them out in the middle of space, with no connection to the Core?

Really, he can't think about the possibility of a future when there's so much at stake now. Robyn is right - they can't spare any time. But Clover is probably the one thing he has left, because Raven was on the _Nicholas_ and even though he knows she probably didn't survive he doesn't want to face it.

Either way, he needs to find out what's going on. After all, he wants a future, comments almost made in anger at the poor counselor aside.

* * *

_Hey, Qrow?_

_Some things have happened. Ping me._

_-C_

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: well that isn't as nice as flowers_

_Ebi, Clover: A friend of mine has gone off-the-grid. Wondering if you can do things for good and evil._

_BiBiBirdie: first of all not using my abilities for evil, the law should not define your morals_

_BiBiBirdie: secondly I'll do my best. ur end or mine?_

_Ebi, Clover: Mine. Not sure if you'll be able to find anything - one of the marines, named Marrow Amin. Their squad was called to a Code Blue about 17 hours ago. Can you do whatever you do to figure out what happened?_

_BiBiBirdie: strange gone that long without any rumors_

_Ebi, Clover: I know their squad is in quarantine. But they aren't with the rest._

_BiBiBirdie: I can try, but your end locked down servers with comms._

_Ebi, Clover: So can you do it?_

_BiBiBirdie: how worried are you?_

_Ebi, Clover: On a scale of 1-10? 10._

_BiBiBirdie: I might be able to, but only if ur down to help me_

_Ebi, Clover: I am currently on lunch break. Doing more sims after._

_BiBiBirdie: go work. will have this ready when ur finished_

* * *

He gets to work on coding. He knows he doesn't have too long, but Robyn lends him some code and help where necessary.

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow?_

_BiBiBirdie: ready. sending you file, broken into 5 bits to not raise any concerns. put them on a memory card and then physically plant the card. it'll give me access_

_Ebi, Clover: Physically plant, like…in my console?_

_BiBiBirdie: I mean onsite. wouldn't be a great system if you could do it from ur bedroom_

_Ebi, Clover: Are you joking? They've shot people here for disobeying orders they didn't even give, and you're expecting me to fiddle with the AI that's the root of the issue?_

_BiBiBirdie: up to you. pray harder to whatever you believe in, or do it._

_Ebi, Clover: I hope he's doing okay._

_BiBiBirdie: I know. can help from over here, give you some advice._

_Ebi, Clover: So what will this do? Install a virus or something?_

_BiBiBirdie: it's complicated. easiest way to explain is that it takes down some fences for me so I can grab security feeds_

_Ebi, Clover: ...and that's it, right? You won't poke around anywhere else and get yourself killed?_

_BiBiBirdie: would hate to think of the aftermath. just want 2 help u_

_Ebi, Clover: What do I have to do?_

* * *

He instructs Clover on how to get to the right place to plant it, and sends the five small pieces.

Qrow regrets lying to Clover already, but the opportunity will be there for him to find out so much more. Clover's about to give him the golden key.

Robyn would tell him to go for it. So would Raven.

And Clover succeeds, he knows, because the metaphorical fence comes down and lets Qrow in.

* * *

_ByteByrd: you asleep or?_

_BiBiBirdie: never sleeping again holy shit_

_ByteByrd: touching. what from?_

_BiBiBirdie: we know there were executions from the court martials_

_BiBiBirdie: found out what from. disobeying orders from the ai_

_BiBiBirdie: orders to shoot the survivors_

_ByteByrd: if they weren't orders from general schnee, why enforce?_

_BiBiBirdie: to prevent panic. can't say the ai took control_

_ByteByrd: shit_

_BiBiBirdie: exactly_

_ByteByrd: are they bringing JAMES back anytime soon? do not want any "visitors"_

_BiBiBirdie: we might have problems sooner. sending files_

* * *

There is so much unearthed. The files detail the story of a bioweapon deployed on the refinery and mines, where the _Nicholas_ picked up most of their refugees.

The virus started off apparently just attacking fear, exhibiting symptoms that prompt physical comfort from others, which spread the virus further. And it took them a long time to discover due to the similarities to PTSD symptoms. They couldn't get rid of it - and then it mutated. The mutation is probably what prompted the attack from JAMES. And from Qrow's reading, the mutated version is much worse, driving people towards psychosis at an unnatural rate.

And towards the end…even the lab technicians studying it got it.

He remembers Clover saying that as long as no one was sick, they were safe.

Now he knows why.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: done reading?_

_ByteByrd: fuck._

_BiBiBirdie: that was about how I felt_

_ByteByrd: the mutation date lines up w/ when they cut off comms_

_BiBiBirdie: it was never for maintenance, obvs_

_ByteByrd: this is why JAMES destroyed the ship_

_BiBiBirdie: that isn't absolutely certain_

_ByteByrd: totally_

_BiBiBirdie: we have a bigger problem_

_ByteByrd: bigger than the AI killing a third of the fleet? bigger than its hand being FORCED?_

_BiBiBirdie: survivors made it to the Alexander_

_ByteByrd: makes sense bc they took it offline when it took out the Nicholas_

_BiBiBirdie: we don't know that_

_BiBiBirdie: found more. thought maybe sis was in there. now I hope she isn't_

_ByteByrd: wish I had more to say than "I'm sorry." know it doesn't help u_

_BiBiBirdie: nobody can. Gotta tell Clover. and the survivors are penned up in bay 4_

_BiBiBirdie: with each other_

_ByteByrd: ..._

_BiBiBirdie: for now_

_ByteByrd: ...shit_

_BiBiBirdie: yeah. shit_

* * *

And now he has to tell Clover the bad news about his friend.

He knows it isn't going to go well.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: you're not gonna like this_

_Ebi, Clover: What's wrong?_

_BiBiBirdie: I found out what happened to Marrow. I have the report if u want me to send_

_Ebi, Clover: I need to know._

_BiBiBirdie has sent 1 file: AAR_07272075_

* * *

INCEP: 7/26/2075

LOCATION: Atlas military vessel _Alexander_

OFFICER: Bree, Harriet

RANK: First Lieutenant

At 19:06 (ship time) on 7/25/75, my squad and I were scrambled for a Code Blue alert issued by _Alexander_ command. Squad mustered in a timely way to Deck 146, where all of us were briefed by XO Vine Zeki in lieu of General Schnee.

In summary: The refugees from the _Nicholas_ quarantined in Hangar Bay 4 were engaged in some kind of riot to protest their conditions with ongoing violence. Our squad was ordered to enter the bay and restore order. Video feed in the bay had been either disabled or destroyed, and bioscanners were unable to penetrate the bay walls, so the squad were going in blind. We were issued ballistics and authorized to use lethal force. We were also issued hazardous materials kits, including fully sealed envirosuits.

"Why the envirosuits?" I asked. But there had been rumors already spreading about the disease on the _Nicholas,_ and everyone knew odds were good the disease had been transferred here. I just would have liked someone in command to acknowledge such.

XO Zeki glared at me for a while before they answered. They don't like me a lot - they look at the battlefield commission on my chest and presume that I think I'm better than them.

I know that I am. 

"Excellent question, Lieutenant," they eventually answered. "We suspect a mutant strain of the Phobos virus - declared a Class Alpha Zero pathogen - is loose in Bay 4. It is possible that none of the refugees are afflicted. However, taking chances with a pathogen such as this is not bound to go well. I restate that the use of lethal force is authorized. No one without a sealed hazmat suit gets out of that bay alive."

"You want us to shoot civilians."

"I want you, Lieutenant, to protect the people of this fleet. I want you to stop, by any means necessary, an afflicted body from getting into the _Alexander's_ general population and spreading the pathogen aboard this ship." They pause. "I would like you to do your job."

A few of the post-Beacon conscripts seemed queasy at the idea. They could know people there. And they had no training with chemicals or bioweapons - after six months, most just understood the business end of the rifles and how to get their uniforms in shape. As ranking officer, I fell back on questioning, but my 2IC, Sgt. Marrow Amin, stepped up to ask the obvious question.

"So if these civilians are infected, why don't we just leave them locked in the bay?"

"They have _Nicholas_ engineering staff among them," XO Zeki replied. "They're trying to break through the airlocks. Given the available tools, they'll succeed in time.'

"Then why don't we just open the outer doors and space them?"

"Slam the brakes on that train of thought now, Corporal," I ordered, glaring at the incursion.

"It's a valid question," Zeki said.

I was stunned.

They turned to the corporal. "The refugees have disabled the locking mechanism on the outer bay doors. We can no longer operate them from the bridge. They must have suspected flushing them out was an option."

"Wonder what gave them that idea," Marrow muttered.

"Further questions?" They looked at me.

Silence.

"Right. Good hunting."

There was complete silence as the squad prepared, which was typically a bad sign. Most of the Beacon conscripts were shaking, and I kept a close eye on them, wondering if they would hold their nerve when ordered to fire upon people they used to know - if the concept of the greater good would sink to their trigger finger, past their emotional responses.

From the shaking, I decided to bench them, keeping them in reserve outside the second airlock. It meant the squad was going in short-handed, but they all seemed relieved from that.

Those remaining of us proceeded to the hangar decks, Command cycling us through the three heavy-duty doors, one at a time - we had all access passes, but there was a special security override on Bay 4.

"Safeties off," I ordered. We all needed to be ready for anything.

Marrow took the lead.

And then we found the bodies. Twenty in total - 11 male, 9 female, all decapitated. We didn't find the heads.

It wasn't until later that we figured out what it said. The bodies spelled out two words - HELP US.

We kept going, eventually hearing the noise. A girl screamed as several adults surrounded her, beating her up with weapons in their hands. "Help!" she yelled.

"Atlas Marines! Freeze!" I ordered. They did, momentarily.

"Drop the weapons!" Marrow yelled. None of them did.

"You fuckers," a woman said, indignant. "Now you come?"

"You left us here to die!"

"Drop the weapons, step away from the girl, and put your hands on your head," I snapped, trying to keep it cool and failing.

"Ma'am, you don't understand, she's with them," a third one moaned. "She's with them!"

"Drop the weapon."

He raised his pipe wrench.

"Drop it," Marrow commanded, but even in the worst of times he's never been the most commanding.

But the other man swung. "Fire," I ordered, and when we were done there were four new bodies on the floor.

Marrow picked up the little girl. "Shhh, it's okay, Uncle Marrow's here," he told her, and we were all looking out for more when it happened. I don't know where she was keeping the shiv - perhaps up her sleeve. All I saw was red and silver.

The suits are practically impenetrable. I don't know how that little girl got the strength.

Marrow yelped and set her down. She leapt at a private, stabbing him through his mask and directly into his eye socket. "Don't look at me," she snarls.

One of the others killed her.

Something came skittering towards us, flashing tiny sparks and sputtering. "Grenade!"

The first blast took out three. The second would have taken out my legs if I didn't move as fast as I had. More were coming, raining down on us from above.

"Fall back!" I ordered. No more soldiers would die, mission or not. We couldn't afford to lose anyone else.

To the squad's credit, we held formation in our retreat.

I thought I saw for a moment some flash in a porthole. But then it was gone. Probably nothing.

They tried to cut off our retreat. A dozen pulse grenades persuaded them otherwise, though, and we got through the first set of doors.

"Gamma, this is Comm. Lieutenant Bree, report status, over," XO Zeki said over comm.

"Comm, this is Gamma. At least forty hostiles in the bay. Four down, Amin injured. over."

"Gamma, Comm. Did any hostiles make it through? Over."

"Comm, Gamma. Negative. They are sealed outside airlock 2. Cycle us through. Over."

"Gamma, Comm. You said you have a squad member injured? Confirm, over."

"Comm, Gamma. Affirmative. Amin took a knife wound, not serious but-"

"Is his suit intact?"

"Comm, Gamma-"

"Is his suit intact?"

I looked at Marrow.

"Lieutenant, is his suit intact?"

"Negative."

"Harriet, you cannot bring him through the airlock, do you understand?"

"Vine…" I understood the importance. I still don't know why, in the heat of the moment, I couldn't make the right decision.

"Hare, you _cannot_ bring him through."

In the end, Marrow spoke for me. "Comm, this is Amin. I copy. Order acknowledged. Over."

I took a deep breath. The choice was made. I have to live with it.

The airlock cycled. There were people training rifles on us at the door, just in case we tried to bring him through. Cold as the belly of the void, Vine Zeki. Uncertain what I ever saw in them.

Marrow gave us a salute. He didn't seem afraid - just determined to do his duty.

"Hey, LT." He spoke just as the doors were going to close. I nodded in acknowledgement. "You see Clover Ebi around, remind him that if he has any kids, that he has to name them after me. And tell him not to worry. I have Prince Blackbird to keep me warm."

"Prince...Blackbird?"

"He'll know what I mean."

"Roger that, Sergeant," I said, trying not to let my voice shake too much.

"Take care, LT."

That was the last we saw of him.

I am officially recommending Sergeant Marrow Amin for the Silver Star of Bravery.

1st Lieutenant Harriet Bree

Atlas Marines Division

Battlecarrier _Alexander_

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: C, you there?_

_Ebi, Clover: Those FUCKERS are just giving up? Just putting a Silver Star on his coffin and calling it a day?_

_BiBiBirdie: take a deep breath C stay with me. he isn't dead yet_

_Ebi, Clover: They left him in there! What happens when they break through the second airlock?_

_Ebi, Clover: Can you break through? Can you get him out?_

_BiBiBirdie: I can't. And I promise I'm not just saying it - the person who wrote the report said their passes don't work_

_Ebi, Clover: Get me some schematics. I'll head down there and do it myself._

_BiBiBirdie: what happens after that? do you really believe it's what he would have wanted?_

_Ebi, Clover: I can't leave him in there. He'll die if he stays there._

_BiBiBirdie: u said. if I knew how to get out of this I would already be doing it. but no answers. you said you wouldn't get yourself killed_

_Ebi, Clover: Those were just words. They don't matter._

_BiBiBirdie: words don't matter? is this your fucked up idea of a joke? words are all we HAVE right now. what about when you told me you loved me? when you said you wanted the best for me? was that all bullshit? doesn't mean anything as soon as you think something matters more?_

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow, I DO love you. As much as a person can. You're all I can think about. I keep thinking about us and how I messed up and it hurts more than anything I've experienced in my life_

_BiBiBirdie: then don't die like this. you know what you do when you lose people? you live. you survive to see the next morning. that's how you honor them_

_Ebi, Clover: He isn't lost yet. I can't just sit here knowing all this and do nothing._

_BiBiBirdie: if you can give me one thing you can actually do that has a shot we'll talk. making demands based on info you shouldn't have will get you nowhere. perhaps even shot. besides, who says they aren't doing anything?_

_Ebi, Clover: I do. We are nothing in the eyes of the military at large, just statistics._

_BiBiBirdie: I'm not saying you can't care about it. I'm saying don't get yourself killed for no reason. please. I wouldn't be okay. I won't be okay._

_Ebi, Clover: And just what does that mean?_

_BiBiBirdie: it means that I fucking love you too. that I won't be okay if you get yourself shot. neither will you, really. so please, please don't make me sit here being nervous about what you could be doing_

_Ebi, Clover: Okay. I'll try not to do anything too stupid._

_BiBiBirdie: for whatever it's worth_

_BiBiBirdie: I'm sorry. I was raised into moving on quickly_

_Ebi, Clover: Not your fault._

_BiBiBirdie: we are well over 7m by now. I have to go. I wish I didn't_

_Ebi, Clover: Okay. I promise I'll do my best to stay safe._

_BiBiBirdie: that's all I ask for_

* * *

_ByteByrd: got pulled into Atlas stuff_

_BiBiBirdie: thought being here would make you immune_

_ByteByrd: nah. got logins yesterday or something like that. been sleeping where I can. don't know what day it is anymore_

_BiBiBirdie: same. good luck with the job_

_ByteByrd: good luck with surviving. we're all going to need it_

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: hello there_

_Hill, Robyn: what the hell are you doing on this channel?_

_BiBiBirdie: looks like one of your coworkers isn't using his ID, so I decided to check up on you_

_Hill, Robyn: nothing slows you down_

_BiBiBirdie: age perhaps. but it looks weird to see ur real name. you're totally ByteByrd in my head_

_BiBiBirdie: so it still isn't sorted? what's the big holdup?_

_Hill, Robyn: harder than it looks. u here to help_

_BiBiBirdie: as long as I can_

_BiBiBirdie: anything from the military techies abt how things are over there?_

_Hill, Robyn: worried about ur bf?_

_BiBiBirdie: yes???_

_Hill, Robyn: well that makes teasing less fun_

_BiBiBirdie: anything?_

_Hill, Robyn: nope. they aren't particularly talkative. not that I want to talk to them generally_

_BiBiBirdie: how r u doing? u stopped to take a break recently?_

_Hill, Robyn: no spare time to be found_

_BiBiBirdie: want me to bring you something?_

_Hill, Robyn: don't want you to be seen near me. they might get you too_

_Hill, Robyn: drives me crazy doing it remotely everything has the most minuscule delay on it. not exactly volunteering to go over and do it in person tho_

_BiBiBirdie: anyone know what they're doing?_

_Hill, Robyn: some. girl named May seems to be on it, most of them were post-Beacon promotions, trying to fill shoes too big for them_

_Hill, Robyn: but it doesn't matter how good you are. trying to turn JAMES back on under restraints is like trying to strap down an octopus in the dark except you don't know how many arms the fucker has_

_BiBiBirdie: ok, show me where I can help. gotta get moving. croc won't wait for us_

_Hill, Robyn: you ok?_

_BiBiBirdie: trying to be_

* * *

Qrow is honestly not super enthused about all this. And the people in charge keep putting out bullshit that he desperately wants to call out, but if he does the consequences won't be any good.

No time to do anything besides work, anyways. Work, talk to Robyn, and talk to… 

He still needs to check on Clover.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: how is it?_

_Ebi, Clover: Very tense. There are a lot of rumors floating around. I'm trying not to think about Marrow, and failing. D: Need some positivity ASAP._

_BiBiBirdie: Remember our compsci professor? She made it out_

_Ebi, Clover: oh wow_

_BiBiBirdie: her class is the reason we're together <3 _

_Ebi, Clover: You know, for such an old man you've still got it_

_BiBiBirdie: excuse you?_

_Ebi, Clover: I said what I said._

_BiBiBirdie: rude you aren't even that much younger_

_Ebi, Clover: I don't exactly have a clever segue here, but how is your sister?_

_BiBiBirdie: you just want to know if anyone will kill you after_

_Ebi, Clover: Hey, if we make it out of this I refuse to let your sister be what kills me._

_BiBiBirdie: she wouldn't kill you idiot_

_Ebi, Clover: You know, you should consider a better pet name for me. Sweetheart?_

_BiBiBirdie: I will tell the Alexander officials you want to be known as "Sweetheart" right away :P_

_Ebi, Clover: No omg._

_BiBiBirdie: just kidding. I'm not super great with endearment tbh_

_Ebi, Clover: Well, you're plenty endearing to me <3 _

_BiBiBirdie: awww thanks <3 _

_Ebi, Clover: Isn't it time for us to part again soon?_

_BiBiBirdie: unfortunately, it is. stay safe. it's only going to get more dangerous._

* * *

Qrow knows that if the _Crocodile_ catches them, the fleet will die. The ICDC leaves no survivors, after all. But he's still afraid of it. Perhaps it's natural to fear death, to some extent, but he still doesn't _want_ to die by any means.

He still has a life to live, and he'll fight hard to get the chance to live it.

He wonders if they can get to the wormhole station. Because if their SOS made it out, more than just the _Alexander_ would have shown up. No one is coming to save them.

And he isn't sure if they can save themselves.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: aaaaaaa_

_Hill, Robyn: mood but you can't be here, if they see two of the same person they'll wtf_

_BiBiBirdie: I am playing the part of May Marigold today, thank you for your concern_

_Hill, Robyn: I don't think stims are working anymore on me. about to smash my head on the keyboard_

_BiBiBirdie: no sleep 4 the wicked dear friend. you're the best hope we've got_

_Hill, Robyn: zzzzzzzz_

_BiBiBirdie: where did you grow up?_

_Hill, Robyn: …why does it matter?_

_BiBiBirdie: trying to keep you awake dumbass_

_Hill, Robyn: Atlas, actually. but like, not the glamorous parts_

_BiBiBirdie: ofc all they would show is that_

_Hill, Robyn: almost ended up joining the military, actually. glad I didn't back then but I guess couldn't avoid them_

_BiBiBirdie: any family?_

_Hill, Robyn: parents, some siblings with kids. pay mostly goes to them. don't need much for myself_

_BiBiBirdie: awww auntie Robyn_

_Hill, Robyn: shut up_

_BiBiBirdie: so why didn't you?_

_Hill, Robyn: Academy isn't on Atlas. You know, despite being Atlas military. The perception of Atlas elsewhere and how I actually grew up…they're polar opposites, and both the SDC and ICDC are part of the problem._

_Hill, Robyn: "The [wo]man dies in all those who keep silent in the face of tyranny."_

_BiBiBirdie: mmmm_

_Hill, Robyn: what r u doing in the core? nothing going on there_

_BiBiBirdie: looking at shutdown/restart logs. might be something useful idk_

_Hill, Robyn: smart_

_BiBiBirdie: this is weird_

_BiBiBirdie: there are 6 shutdown attempts all in a row_

_Hill, Robyn: when?_

_BiBiBirdie: right when they were firing on the Nicholas_

_Hill, Robyn: I FUCKING KNEW IT._

* * *

This is…huge. This needs to be shared.

He logs into a Ghost ID, and sends the logs to his captain. Leonardo Lionheart.

And Qrow watches through the cameras, unable to do anything, as his information gets Robyn and Fiona dragged over to the _Alexander,_ beat-up more than anything. Robyn spits in their faces, defiant to the end, but in the end…

Captain Lionheart goes to surrender. Tells his lieutenant to stand down. But someone on the squad shot anyways, and now his blood is on his hands.

It's his fault he died. He should have thought it through…

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: Tell me this wasn't you._

_BiBiBirdie: what are you talking about??_

_Ebi, Clover: Someone leaked info to the late Captain Lionheart by hacking into JAMES._

_BiBiBirdie: I won't lie to you. I am responsible. And I regret that it killed someone, but I can't regret doing it altogether_

_Ebi, Clover: What the hell were you thinking?_

_BiBiBirdie: JAMES killed everyone on the Nicholas. It's being covered up. They have a right to know_

_Ebi, Clover: So you thought telling *everyone* over on the Explorer about it was a good idea?_

_BiBiBirdie: Robyn told the captain. How was I supposed to do that without them knowing?_

_Ebi, Clover: And who exactly is Robyn?_

_BiBiBirdie: She's one of the IT workers your officers assaulted and dragged to the Alexander, bloody. She's one of the only ones brave enough to speak up. It was the right thing._

_Ebi, Clover: Tell that to the officer whose ID you jacked. She's in the brig now. And the corporal (a friend, by the way) who stuck her neck out is in the hole too._

_BiBiBirdie: they shot my captain, you know. while taking my friends over._

_Ebi, Clover: The people who shot him wouldn't even have been there if it hadn't been for you and Robyn. You promised that you would use what I installed to help Marrow and you used it to spy on people._

_BiBiBirdie: stop putting words in my mouth. am I supposed to just sit around and wait to die? you might be a bootlicker but I have 0 faith in your commanders._

_Ebi, Clover: People got hurt because of your actions!_

_BiBiBirdie: and what if nothing is done? do you really think general Schnee has all the answers?_

_Ebi, Clover: More than we do, at least._

_BiBiBirdie: she's trying her best. but it isn't enough. they're all trying but we're all just fucking lost_

_Ebi, Clover: You don't know everything._

_BiBiBirdie: you're right. but what I do know is that we only have 47 hours until the Crocodile comes. for real this time_

_BiBiBirdie: and I'm too cynical to just rely on hope to think it'll go well_

_Ebi, Clover: So what exactly is your plan?_

_BiBiBirdie: need time. need you to help me_

_Ebi, Clover: You don't know either._

_BiBiBirdie: we're adults, dammit, we are just as capable_

_Ebi, Clover: I trust them._

_BiBiBirdie: and if they told you to walk off a cliff, would you? I'm sorry that your friends were imprisoned. but it's command's fault for keeping crucial secrets_

_Ebi, Clover: I could tell them about you._

_BiBiBirdie: you wouldn't._

_Ebi, Clover: You're right. But how about this?_

* * *

Clover disconnects, and Qrow is left to stew in his mistakes.

Consequences ripple. He's experienced enough bad decisions to know that. He meant what he said, mostly. Some of it was overly heated, but…well, they all need to know. Even if it breeds fear. Better to be knowledgeable and afraid than happy and ignorant.

Ignorance's bliss is far from a blessing.

But he does need to apologize. Because Clover is right in the end -- it's his fault Captain Rose died.

* * *

_Clover,_

_I know you don't understand. I can't force you to change your mind. And I can't force you to read my messages, either - or respond to them._

_But I can at least try to explain something._

_I can't promise that we'll make it out, but Robyn and I will try our best to make sure that we will. With or without the approval of General Schnee and the other officers. I need to keep helping her. What I found out was incidental while I was doing that, but once I saw everything I couldn't just forget about it._

_I love you. And you don't have to forgive me if you don't feel like you can. But I hope that these give you at least a glimpse of my perspective._

_I understand that you want someone to cling onto and tell you what comes next. I can't give you that. I can't give you absolute certainty._

_But if you want to take a leap, I'll be here to catch you._

_Qrow._

* * *

He sends Clover the messages between him and Raven before the explosion, including the discarded drafts.

It's why he needs to make sure that everyone knows why all those lives were lost. None of them deserved to die, even in the throes of infection. 

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: Raven...was there when the Nicholas was blown up. I…_

_BiBiBirdie: you don't have to pity me. if you still think I'm wrong, I hope I can help you understand a little why I made the choices I did._

_Ebi, Clover: I do. And I forgive you._

_BiBiBirdie: you're justified too. it's scary to be without guidance but we have to press on_

_Ebi, Clover: I get it. But why didn't you tell me about Raven before?_

_BiBiBirdie: denial that it happened, me not wanting to worry you - take your pick. Probably a combination_

_Ebi, Clover: I was in a heavy state of denial after Elm died, too. I'd catch myself using present tense for her…_

_BiBiBirdie: and yet I'm asking you to support me when I wasn't there for you. you deserve better_

_Ebi, Clover: I really don't. Not…you're so, so much more than I have ever deserved. And I understand why you never responded back then. It's okay. You don't have to pay me back. But if you want to our current situation is pretty crappy_

_BiBiBirdie: I don't know how you can still stand by me. but I don't care because you continue to. does that make sense?_

_Ebi, Clover: It does. And...I'll keep standing by you. Until the last star in the galaxy dies._

_BiBiBirdie: and I'll do the same for you, from now on._

_BiBiBirdie: but we should try not to let more die. I want to be alive when we see each other again_

_Ebi, Clover: So you believe in the afterlife huh. I know it's hard for you, but try to stay positive. We will see each other again._

_BiBiBirdie: I feel like I should have tried harder to get to Raven. I tried so hard. It still feels like there's more_

_BiBiBirdie: but we both know she'd at least try to kick my ass if I stopped trying now_

_Ebi, Clover: She would. Raven might have hated me but I still think she was pretty cool_

_BiBiBirdie: I used to hope she got rescued. but after learning about everything I hope that she didn't. (also she told me not to tell you this, but she didn't hate you.)_

_Ebi, Clover: Well, I'm glad. And...if you don't have a list how do you know?_

_BiBiBirdie: if she's alive and insane I would rather believe she's dead altogether. if she's one of the afflicted in bay 4 she IS dead. would rather believe the nuke got her. fast. painless._

_Ebi, Clover: Hold on. The AAR from the Bay 4 mission said this: "I thought I saw for a moment some flash in a porthole. But then it was gone. Probably nothing." That could be Raven. She could still be okay._

_BiBiBirdie: holy shit. this changes everything - what can we do?_

_Ebi, Clover: What do you need?_

_BiBiBirdie: I don't know. I just…I need some time._

_Ebi, Clover: We don't have much of that left._

* * *

The announcement that comes from the new Captain Rose in memory of the late Captain Lionheart also contains the interesting information that the _Explorer_ could potentially strike out on its own…if necessary.

He's terrified of that option -- but it could become a necessity.

* * *

_Hill, Robyn: how's it going?_

_BiBiBirdie: fine. hungry but otherwise_

_Hill, Robyn: talk to lover boy?_

_BiBiBirdie: yes_

_Hill, Robyn: ...how are you two doing?_

_BiBiBirdie: fine. gotta keep focused on the job Hill or did you forget our imminent doom_

_Hill, Robyn: trying to show some concern. been told it's a good thing. you as icy as you seem?_

_BiBiBirdie: absolutely not. tired hungry not getting anywhere_

_Hill, Robyn: consider eating?_

_BiBiBirdie: if I leave this place I might not be able to get back to it_

_Hill, Robyn: mood. even by my standards hygiene isn't going well. service is unacceptable should report to management_

_BiBiBirdie: you doing ok? saw the bridge footage from when you were taken_

_Hill, Robyn: always ok. can't afford not to b. starting 2 get delirious from no sleep might be what I need to get a breakthrough_

_BiBiBirdie: the others don't get it, do they?_

_Hill, Robyn: nope. one of the team leaders used to clean vending machines I shit you not_

_BiBiBirdie: trying to solve this problem with JAMES is like when C used to take me to watch sports. can't remember what it was called. I knew there were rules and were trying to figure it out, but every time I thought I had it down they called a penalty that made 0 sense and I was back at square one_

_BiBiBirdie: basically I'm thinking if we can get a rulebook we can control JAMES and live. but if we make a mistake…_

_Hill, Robyn: game over_

_BiBiBirdie: the AI can't do its job any more, do they not get that? it took hits at Beacon, they asked too much of it, it crashed_

_Hill, Robyn: omg_

_BiBiBirdie: what?_

_Hill, Robyn: OH MY GOD_

_BiBiBirdie: ????????_

_Hill, Robyn: that's how we do this. we ask too much of the crocodile_

_BiBiBirdie: ok, keep going_

_Hill, Robyn: we can't win a direct confrontation. but if we can set it back long enough to make a run for it we might make it out of this_

_Hill, Robyn: we target their drive systems. we screw up their OS so badly they have to shut down and reboot. they don't have anything like JAMES, it'll take forever_

_BiBiBirdie: alright, so how?_

_Hill, Robyn: the pilots will take it to the engines. right where the sun don't shine_

_BiBiBirdie: what, our program?_

_Hill, Robyn: logic bomb_

_BiBiBirdie: is that a thing???_

_Hill, Robyn: IT IS NOW_

_BiBiBirdie: ok so_

_Hill, Robyn: like I said earlier they don't have an AI, their software isn't that advanced. we can make a bunch of queries that seem legitimate but don't have an answer._

_BiBiBirdie: and if we have the tasks self replicate it'll just layer and layer and loop until the drive crashes_

_Hill, Robyn: genius_

_BiBiBirdie: not to feed your ego, but genius_

_Hill, Robyn: we'll have to turn JAMES on to transmit it_

_BiBiBirdie: need to turn it on anyways to have the defense system_

_Hill, Robyn: higher ups revoked lover boy's flight status, yeah?_

_BiBiBirdie: yes, why?_

_Hill, Robyn: pilots can buy us time but they'll have to get real close to plant this thing. gonna be a lot between them and the goal_

_BiBiBirdie: he's decked where he'll be safe. let's get to work_

_Hill, Robyn: gonna need more stims for this…_

_BiBiBirdie: wish I couldn't relate_

* * *

Less than 24 hours. There isn't much time for anything. But they get to work, and maybe they can pull this off.

It may be selfish to hope Clover's flight status doesn't get restored. It is a possibility, after all, but Qrow doesn't want him to be in danger like that.

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: I was just thinking_

_BiBiBirdie: about?_

_Ebi, Clover: I was thinking about the first time I kissed you._

_BiBiBirdie: should be thinking about the next time we do. after all this is over_

_Ebi, Clover: The first time I walked you home from a study session…_

_BiBiBirdie: wait what? I counted, it was at least ten_

_Ebi, Clover: …I meant the first time I imagined it. In my head._

_BiBiBirdie: oh_

_Ebi, Clover: I had to work up the guts to actually make a move. So, I practiced in my head every time. You were pretty good in my head._

_BiBiBirdie: You never told me that, huh. I'm not normally the kind of guy who sits and waits to be asked, but I just didn't understand why you would want *me* for anything more than the fact that I was working on a third degree and you were still trying to get your first_

_Ebi, Clover: What other reason would I have to walk you home a bunch of times? You really are bad at this whole romance thing. Lol._

_BiBiBirdie: first of all never use "lol" in my pretense again_

_BiBiBirdie: second, so what if I am? you chose me anyways_

_Ebi, Clover: And I would choose you again and again. <3 _

_BiBiBirdie: you think you're so smooth. and you are it drives me crazy <3 _

_Ebi, Clover: I should have kissed you that first time. I wasted all that time being afraid. I could have shown you all those times that I care about you. I thought we had all the time in the universe._

_BiBiBirdie: we did. and I was worse, taking all that time up arguing about leaving the planet when we could have gone long-distance. or something_

_Ebi, Clover: Confession time: there's a reason Elm and I were on Beacon. And why I couldn't leave with you, as much as I wanted to._

_BiBiBirdie: ...does this reason have a name?_

_Ebi, Clover: Salem. I thought of her as a mentor. She was far from it._

_BiBiBirdie: a bad MENTOR was bad enough?_

_Ebi, Clover: She has a far reach. And she was…blatantly abusive. She's part of a group of bad people. I don't really want to spend our possibly last conversation talking about her._

_BiBiBirdie: I won't force you to. I want to know, and talking about that trauma often proves helpful (at least if it's with the right person/people). take all this with a grain of salt I am...bad at emotions_

_Ebi, Clover: There's only 24 hours until the Crocodile is here. It isn't that long._

_BiBiBirdie: you may be surprised how much I can do in just one day_

_Ebi, Clover: A fully equipped ICDC dreadnought carries a complement of 24 Warlocks. 36 nuclear bombs. And an impenetrable defense grid. What are we supposed to do against that?_

_BiBiBirdie: I'm here. And forget all the romance - I'm pretty good at problem solving, I think._

_Ebi, Clover: My flight status has been reinstated._

_BiBiBirdie: ...shit_

_Ebi, Clover: When they hit, I'll be in the thick of it._

_BiBiBirdie: Robyn and I are working on something. we'll go out fighting if we must but we aren't finished yet. so please do your best to stay alive_

_Ebi, Clover: In...case I don't make it. I love you._

_Ebi, Clover: I just want to make absolute certain you know that._

_BiBiBirdie: I know. And I love you too._

_BiBiBirdie: it doesn't feel adequate, but it's all we have. I have to get back to work now_

_Ebi, Clover: I wish I could kiss you goodbye._

_BiBiBirdie: all those times imagining it before must have been practice_

_BiBiBirdie: I'm imagining kissing you too. I hear I'm pretty good <3 _

* * *

Work goes by quickly. There's a lot to be done, reading and proofreading and writing. He also takes a nap at one point, which gets Robyn on his case, but she's a little younger than him and thus has more energy.

Ten hours. It doesn't feel like enough time. But it has to be. For everyone's sake.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: I think we should tell command I'm here. Would work faster in person with you_

_Hill, Robyn: no_

_BiBiBirdie: what's the worst that could happen at this point?_

_Hill, Robyn: you really want to know? stay where you are. besides, any time that may be gained by having you in person will be lost by convincing command to bring you over in the first place_

_BiBiBirdie: ...I suppose_

_Hill, Robyn: need to grab more stims. can you check that last string for me? think I blacked out there_

_BiBiBirdie: sure_

* * *

He's not happy about it, but Qrow has to accept it. At least for now.

The _Alexander_ might not even survive. But he isn't sure if he wants to.

* * *

_Hill, Robyn: careful, Fiona almost spotted you there_

_BiBiBirdie: not getting anything. gonna try modifying that code from earlier to get it replicating_

_Hill, Robyn: that isn't gonna work_

_BiBiBirdie: gotta try_

_Hill, Robyn: we don't have *time*_

_BiBiBirdie: I know that, too_

_BiBiBirdie: gonna alpha test this on the automated catering list, see if it works. shouldn't be a problem if it blows up somewhere small_

_Hill, Robyn: you haven't seen what people are like when they're hungry_

_BiBiBirdie: somehow I doubt we'll need a meal tonight_

* * *

Only a few more hours until the _Crocodile_ arrives. He feels like he's about to crash. It's shitty.

But he can't crash now. He's too far along the road.

* * *

_Qrow,_

_I can't think of what to say. But so many others have said it better than I ever could, so I let them do the talking. I'm not really an artist, so it is a little lopsided._

* * *

It's a heart, with poetry inside. He recognizes some of the snippets, and recognizes where Clover changed the pronouns too.

Qrow takes a deep breath. There isn't much that they can do. He keeps working on their virus, their secret weapon to save them. The pilots are set to launch, Clover among them.

He prays that Clover lives, to whichever deity will bother to listen to him anymore.

But he needs to get back to work. Because if they don't finish this, everyone is doomed.

* * *

_Hill, Robyn: hey there buddy get off my line_

_BiBiBirdie: what_

_Hill, Robyn: move off of string 239a-487b I'm working on it_

_BiBiBirdie: not me_

_Hill, Robyn: you better not be messing with me_

_BiBiBirdie: I swear I'm sporking the uplink protocols in 446 like you showed me_

_Hill, Robyn: funny that bc I'm watching the string be rewritten now_

_BiBiBirdie: one of the others maybe? didn't think there was anyone left considering Marigold and Greenleaf are...y'know_

_Hill, Robyn: they don't_

_BiBiBirdie: then who?_

_Hill, Robyn: shit_

_Hill, Robyn: not who_

_BiBiBirdie: …?_

_Hill, Robyn: what._

* * *

JAMES…has done it. Finished their program. But why?

No matter. It's done. And transmitted.

Qrow still worries, though. Even though he knows that Clover is safe. That he survived.


	2. every choice is ours and ours alone

Qrow listens in, to find out what happens next, and…

"Robyn, it's Summer," Captain Rose declares over the signal Qrow's tapping into. "We're picking up an abandon ship signal, but no one has answered our hail. What the hell is going on?"

"JAMES took control of the ship. Command is dead. You have to run, get out while you can."

"Is there any way we can-"

"Run. We'll be a ghost ship soon enough. And JAMES could get you soon enough."

"Can anyone be retrieved?"

"I don't know. The virus is in the vents. Treat every refugee with extreme precaution. Hard quarantine. Look for symptoms of PTSD: catatonia, tremors...if anyone so much as shivers, treat them as contagious. As dangerous."

"Understood. Robyn, I'm sorry…"

"It'll-it'll probably cut transmissions when it figures out what I'm doing. Make sure to find someone to train to manage enviro until you make it to the station, make sure they know to slide hydroponics because those slip over time, and, and I can't…"

"It's okay. I'll handle it. Do you have a fix on the _Crocodile?"_

"No. They should take at least 18 hours to reboot, though, so run while you can and run fast."

"What are you going to do?"

"Whatever I can. For as long as I-"

What is it like to see those all these paths, and yet still make a decision so completely wrong?

* * *

_Hill, Robyn: you catch all that?_

_BiBiBirdie: yes_

_Hill, Robyn: must have taken a long enough break from murder to notice I was transmitting. might not notice this, so small._

_BiBiBirdie: sending you some new code. maybe you can try & get into weapons through the backdoor _

_Hill, Robyn: Qrow. Listen to me_

_BiBiBirdie: we can't give up yet_

_Hill, Robyn: promise me you won't do anything to impede the explorer. you need to let the Crocodile catch us and take out JAMES_

_BiBiBirdie: Robyn._

_Hill, Robyn: an old bird can still learn new tricks, Qrow. it isn't over for you yet. You need to tell them all what happened. if you want them to remember me and your lucky charm, then run, live, and tell EVERYONE what the ICDC did_

_Hill, Robyn: taking us out might slow them down enough for you to make it. run_

_BiBiBirdie: we have time before the Crocodile comes back. we can work this out_

_Hill, Robyn: if you don't run now, JAMES could find a way around me. and you won't even have to wait for the Crocodile to get blown up_

_BiBiBirdie: I can't lose you_

_Hill, Robyn: you have to_

_Hill, Robyn: it's been a privilege to teach you. and to be your friend._

_BiBiBirdie: of course_

_Hill, Robyn: don't forget me._

_BiBiBirdie: I won't. I promise._

_Hill, Robyn: now excuse me as I kick JAMES's ass a little more_

_BiBiBirdie: give 'em hell_

_Hill, Robyn: now run_

* * *

He can't believe…

Qrow can't lose them yet. Not Robyn, and especially not Clover.

He gets a ping. Well, speaking of Clover…

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: hello Qrow_

_BiBiBirdie: omg what_

_BiBiBirdie: where are you?_

_Ebi, Clover: Well, currently, I am in someone's lap. It isn't very comfortable. How about you?_

_BiBiBirdie: can't get a hold of Robyn or access the system so idk wtf is going on there you're my only contact_

_BiBiBirdie: are you somewhere secure?_

_Ebi, Clover: We're in a supply room in a hangar deck, near bay 2 I believe? We might have to move quickly if they find us so apologies if I blink out suddenly. There's about a dozen of us here_

_BiBiBirdie: if I'm gonna get you help I need to know where u are. pulling up schematics now_

_Ebi, Clover: One of the maintenance personnel here (Port, I believe) knows this part of the ship...intimately, to say the least. From here we're going to try & get to munitions, find some weapons w/ actual stopping power. From there we're going to fight our way to some escape pods _

_BiBiBirdie: be careful, Clover. they're all over the ship and whole sections are blinking in and out. idk what JAMES will do next_

_Ebi, Clover: This is JAMES? It let the infected out? What the hell?_

_BiBiBirdie: idk. it did it on purpose. wiped out your command before they could shut it back down. it got Robyn and everyone else that could stop it. I don't think I can do it from here on my own, but if you can get somewhere safe I can try to help over there somehow._

_Ebi, Clover: So, General Schnee is dead - what about Polendina? Zeki?_

_BiBiBirdie: the only one I know about for sure is Schnee. I think most of them are gone. I don't know why it isn't opening the door on you now, except maybe Robyn hurt it before it got him. you need to be somewhere manually operated, somewhere it isn't the one in control. this is important. tell the folks you're with_

_Ebi, Clover: The doors are jammed shut. Gonna use the vents to move, but they're smart and moving in packs. We have two pistols but it's like they don't do anything. They won't go down unless you hit them dead center, and the sound just brings more. So, yeah, my day is real chill, sweetheart, how about yours?_

_BiBiBirdie: ok, no sweetheart, just no. even now_

_BiBiBirdie: looking at schematics munitions does look like a safe bet. I'll figure out something over here. do whatever I must to get people out._

_Ebi, Clover: This is…bad._

_BiBiBirdie: you're alive. we aren't done until I say so. there any way to talk to me there, like a comscreen?_

_Ebi, Clover: Got a portable terminal. I'm not sure how long battery will last. If it dies I'll find something else._

_BiBiBirdie: shut it down and save some battery. and if any of those motherfuckers get near you shoot em in the head_

_Ebi, Clover: I will. For you._

_Ebi, Clover: gotta go they're @ doors ily_

_BiBiBirdie: love you too. now RUN_

* * *

Qrow can't let himself get too caught up in grief or hope. If his grief for Robyn stops him, then Clover is doomed. And if he lets his hopes get too high and Clover doesn't make it, well…

He keeps an eye on the new captain. Qrow can't imagine what it would be like, to lose someone so close. Well, he can -- but he doesn't think about those emotions, threatening to bubble over. Not until they're out of imminent danger, at the very least.

But then the ship changes course, and JAMES talks to the captain. Qrow listens, and he makes a decision.

And then the escape happens. A mass exodus of those who are capable of escaping. He doesn't know if Clover is among the pilots, but he hopes that Clover is.

Until he gets the message.

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: So I have good news and bad news. And even worse news._

_BiBiBirdie: shoot_

_Ebi, Clover: Good news is that we found some Hazmat suits, and didn't get murdered along the way._

_BiBiBirdie: best news I've heard all day. keep going. though I'm glad you're alive_

_Ebi, Clover: And I as well._

_BiBiBirdie: so what's the bad news? and the really bad news while you're at it_

_Ebi, Clover: The bad news is that I need to use the bathroom but if I take my suit off I risk exposure. And the worse news is that we found some escape pods._

_BiBiBirdie: ???_

_Ebi, Clover: All of them are disabled. The AI must have disabled them after the exodus. There's no override on it either._

_BiBiBirdie: I take it you're somewhere secure for now? got a power source for your device?_

_Ebi, Clover: Yeah. I'm using the wall socket currently, but power is intermittent. So is the gravity, for that matter. I can't stay in one place for that long. We have to keep moving or they find us. When we were crawling through the vents, I saw this little kid on the floor below us, dragging something behind her. I thought it was a teddy bear at first. And then I realized it was a heart._

_Ebi, Clover: Like, a human one. And all of a sudden she looks up at the vent at me, screaming at the top of her lungs DON'T LOOK AT ME. That's…fucked up, why would anyone make a virus like this?_

_BiBiBirdie: yes. yes it is. you probably shouldn't look at them_

_Ebi, Clover: How dare you make me laugh._

_BiBiBirdie: apologies_

_Ebi, Clover: Everyone's looking at me funny now._

_BiBiBirdie: okok I need to focus. so you can't escape via escape pods. no engines. explorer has what it takes to outpace you, if new captain decides to. that's the bad news I have._

_Ebi, Clover: So why haven't you? Qrow, you guys should just RUN FOR IT._

_BiBiBirdie: because JAMES told him that we'll be rendered down to our component molecules if we try_

_Ebi, Clover: Holy shit._

_BiBiBirdie: I doubt it will, it's conditioned to protect the fleet. it thinks it's doing that. but I understand why it gives him pause_

_Ebi, Clover: What can you do from there?_

_BiBiBirdie: don't know. maybe I'll out myself to the captain, convince him to send me over. it'd have to be onsite. if I can get enough control to make a safe way out…_

_Ebi, Clover: You absolutely should not come over here._

_Ebi, Clover: People are being murdered. Neither of us have seen anything like this before._

_BiBiBirdie: I've seen more than you think._

_Ebi, Clover: I don't want you to put yourself in danger for me. I don't know what I would do if you came but..._

_BiBiBirdie: I used to be a spy. I didn't know you were involved with the ICDC, but I do know who Salem is._

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow. Listen to me_

_BiBiBirdie: what am I supposed to do? just wave goodbye and remember you fondly? you're the only one I really have left._

_Ebi, Clover: The thought of your safety is what keeps me going. That's what matters._

_BiBiBirdie: we aren't done yet, yeah? there has to be a way out. some folks made their way over before the lockdown. they're quarantined and if all goes well they'll be welcomed. we just have to do the same for you. can make that happen just need time_

_Ebi, Clover: ffhgjhgfhdtxgfhgdvhjmvhmbj_

_BiBiBirdie: wtf_

_Ebi, Clover: power is out again we have to move gotta go_

_BiBiBirdie: ok_

_Ebi, Clover: I meant what I said, Qrow. Don't come over here, I want your heart to stay where it is_

_BiBiBirdie: same. stay safe. love you_

_Ebi, Clover: <3 _

* * *

At this point hacking the door to the captain's quarters is child's play, because of everything else.

So he slips in - and makes sure the captain is in.

"How did you get in here?" The captain steps away from her workstation.

Qrow wolf-whistles. "Nice place you've got here."

"What's your name?"

"Seriously, you should see my 'quarters.' Just a bunk screwed into the wall."

"I'm calling security." Her fingers hover over something, probably a button.

"Don't do that, Captain. I'm not a threat to you."

"What are you, then?" The captain's hand drifts away from the button, and Qrow seems to still have retained some of his skills from the past.

"An opportunity." He smirks.

"Is that so?"

Qrow channels every bit of charisma he ever learned. "You're going to leave the _Alexander._ You are going to take your chances that JAMES won't actually blow you up when you run for it, which is probably a risk worth taking since it's programmed to protect us even still."

"And just how do you know that?"

"It's a mystery," Qrow responds.

"No, seriously; that information is classified."

"I hacked into your secure comms channel and eavesdropped on you and JAMES." He shrugs. "So here's the thing, captain. You shouldn't actually leave the _Alexander._ There are still people that can be rescued.”

"Everyone has someone they care about over there. I hope you understand that when I make this decision, it won't be with the help of a refugee."

"And what does that have to do with it?" Qrow crosses his arms.

"It means you're more directly involved in this. And you don't have the command experience necessary to advise me. Now, how did you get into my quarters?"

Qrow narrows his eyes. "I used to work in espionage. Sneaking in places is no problem. Besides, when you're learning to hack, portal security is one of the first things. Doors, comms, all simple things with hacking. More complicated than the wiretapping I learned when I was younger, but certainly not impossible."

"Listen, mister…"

"Branwen." He crossed his arms.

Something crosses Captain Rose's face. "I know that it's difficult."

"No, you don't."

"I knew Raven. You're her twin brother, right? We had…a fling. Parted ways when we realized that we'd be on different sides of things."

"So why'd you let her die on the _Nicholas?_ Do you have the same idiotic brilliance as JAMES? Do you really believe it's working for the greater good?"

"She always mentioned that you were more naive than you had any right to be," she mutters. "I didn't know there was anyone left who could hack the doors. Did you really do that?"

"An old bird can still learn new tricks." He uncrosses his arms. Less defensive, more open.

"Report to IT within thirty minutes, Mr. Branwen. Your skills will certainly benefit us."

"How? By leaving the _Alexander_ for dead?"

"By keeping those on the _Explorer_ alive. Including you, which I'm sure whoever you have on the _Alexander_ will certainly appreciate."

"If you think I'm going to just abandon them on your say-so just because you and Raven had a thing in the past, you've got another thing coming. We have skilled people here. We can still help whoever is left."

"And just how many of those people do you think are uninfected? Now, if you'll excuse me, I am due on the bridge soon. So, if you do not vacate this chamber now, I will regretfully have to call security."

Qrow turns to the door. "Best of it, captain. Just remember that I asked."

She can't make him do a shift, or whatever. Perhaps he managed to crack something in her.

He knows Raven did a lot before they reunited again, shortly before they got to Beacon. It's no surprise that there are remnants of that, but there are billions upon billions of people in the universe. The odds are astronomical. And yet, here they are.

Thirty minutes. There's a reason they never got him, though.

He checks on the bridge. True to her word, Summer Rose is there, near her workstation. A pilot from Bay 2 radios in.

Oh. Oh no. One of the pilots caught Phobos.

All the pilots that came in via jet are dead now. Even if Clover made it off of the _Alexander_ (which he didn't) _,_ he certainly wouldn't be alive if he did.

That solidifies his decision even more.

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow?_

_BiBiBirdie: I'm here, what's going on?_

_Ebi, Clover: All the people I'm with are dead._

_BiBiBirdie: are you ok? somewhere secure?_

_Ebi, Clover: I'm very much not okay but I am secure. Not sure exactly where I am but the door is jammed shut and the vents are secure. Cause they got us in the vents, they learn, they're still human in there._

_Ebi, Clover: blood all over me shit fingers are slipping on keyboard. They were killed on top of me practically I'm lucky I made it out_

_BiBiBirdie: I'm sorry. you need to stay safe best you can ok?_

_Ebi, Clover: Hands are shaky, having trouble typing. Autocorrect really helping_

_BiBiBirdie: Lots of people made it over here. They're alive._

_Ebi, Clover: I'm not going to be among them._

_BiBiBirdie: yes you will. where are you? have schematics up, if I can get them a route to you gotta make them an offer they can't refuse_

_Ebi, Clover: Not sure where I am. Somewhere under deck 40. Trying to get to the nearest server room._

_BiBiBirdie: good. if JAMES is going for self-preservation they'll be the safest places of all_

_Ebi, Clover: I can hear them outside…_

_BiBiBirdie: don't focus on them, focus on this. at least for now. I don't have much time, explorer is going to try and run for it james or no james. have to try harder to convince her to stay_

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow, you're going to die if you come here._

_BiBiBirdie: I won't leave you_

_Ebi, Clover: I want you to leave me behind. Tell them about me. Someone has to._

_BiBiBirdie: then I need to get to work on convincing captain rose that the sooner we get people rescued the sooner we can run the hell away_

_Ebi, Clover: I'm sorry, Qrow_

_BiBiBirdie: i'm sorry too_

_Ebi, Clover: I should have told you I loved you every day_

_BiBiBirdie: I shouldn't have been so hung up on leaving_

_Ebi, Clover: I thought you weren't going to settle down. Not for me._

_BiBiBirdie: I want to. I want to settle down. Or explore the universe. Whatever you want. After we get out of this_

_Ebi, Clover: We aren't getting out of this._

_BiBiBirdie: stay safe. I gotta go. talk later. I love you._

_Ebi, Clover: Please don't do anything rash, Qrow._

* * *

Qrow has a lot of experience in sneaking around. But this is the most important mission he's ever embarked on.

He needs to succeed.

He stops to mute the comms. There's a security officer near the bay, but Qrow is almost certain he can dissuade the officer. They seem rather bored.

So he tells them that they're needed at a different bay, and once they've gotten far enough he gets back to work on making sure he's in, that he can get in and out. The door slides open, and he sighs with relief, getting into the shuttle and getting the engine started.

There's an override on the airlock, and they've done it in a way that makes it harder for him to unravel. He's still clipping away at it when he hears the officer scream.

They're onto him. He focuses, he just needs to get the doors open…

Qrow quickly programs the shuttle to lift off. An alarm is blaring - they know he's here. The doors to the airlock open at long last, and the shuttle perfectly jets out of the bay, into the darkness of space and towards the _Alexander._

Towards Robyn. Towards _Clover._

And towards so much danger he doesn't know what to make of it.

"Shuttle 2A," comms open, "if you do not acknowledge hails within 10 seconds we will open fire." Captain Rose.

"It was good to know you, Captain, but I can't run away when I can still save the people I love." They're all he has left.

He finishes programming the course, and looks back at the closed door.

"Then we will not welcome you back," she responds, her voice firm even over the radio.

He shuts off the communications.

He won't regret this. He _can't_ regret this.

Qrow changes into a hazmat suit, stolen from the infirmary.

The shuttle is guided towards the part of the _Alexander_ the fighters blasted through. When it lands, he doesn't notice any of the afflicted around. It seems that for once in his life he's had some good luck.

And then an alarm starts blaring. He wonders what he's done, lets out a curse as he grabs his device, but it appears this one isn't his fault.

"All hands, all hands." He vaguely recognizes Winter Schnee's voice. "General Schnee speaking. This is a Code Blue. Life support systems failure. Please proceed to your nearest ordinance locker and equip your sealed envirosuit. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

He has oxygen in the hazmat suit. And it's an intelligent move at the very least; those who still have the faculties to put on an envirosuit will. And those people are significantly less likely to be infected.

The door is locked. He starts working on getting through it, fingers tapping keys as he works on running the code to get into the door. It takes longer than it should -- almost an hour before he gets through. They don't have that kind of time to spare.

He hears a scream nearby and crouches. The suit is bright green, it won't keep him hidden long. When the coast is clear again, he starts down the hall.

First stop is to see if the rumors of Raven being alive are true. And then he'll find Clover. If he can have both…

It's almost too much to hope for.

The front door is likely dangerous. At least he won't be seen in the vents as much. He hopes. He could be mistaken.

But while crawling, he doesn't see any afflicted. And when he gets to a service ladder out, he almost drops the pack with his device -- but saves it just in time.

 _Keep it together,_ he thinks to himself.

There is no one in the bay when he arrives.

There are nine shuttles. Nine windows of hope. Seven are open.

Two.

The eighth opens when he hits it hard enough. No one responds when he calls, and he has to wedge a crowbar in to get the ninth open. But besides some wreckage, there is no one there.

He is alone. He takes a moment to mourn, in silence. Raven wouldn't want him to cry too much over her. (They were the only people they consistently had, yet weren't supposed to "look" too attached.)

There is…one more person.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: Clover? Are you here?_

_Ebi, Clover: Always._

_BiBiBirdie: promise me we aren't going to fight over this I REALLY don't want to fight over this_

_Ebi, Clover: I want to know what it is before I pass any judgement._

_BiBiBirdie: I'm on the Alexander._

_Ebi, Clover: Is this the part where I say "what the fuck were you thinking?"_

_BiBiBirdie: I have a biosuit. I'm okay._

_Ebi, Clover: How did you get here?_

_BiBiBirdie: how do you think_

_BiBiBirdie: I swam ok_

_Ebi, Clover: No need to get defensive._

_BiBiBirdie: hey, do you remember our one month anniversary?_

_Ebi, Clover: I don't think this is the time. We're stuck on a ship with a bunch of people who have a high tolerance for pain and a desire to cause pain. We don't have time to frolic around in the ice fields of our relationship past…_

_BiBiBirdie: just...humor me, will you? trying to get to a happy place_

_BiBiBirdie: you were waiting outside with gifts. like, who even celebrates a one month anniversary?_

_Ebi, Clover: Is that not normal? I've never been in a relationship before_

_BiBiBirdie: it isn't a bad thing!! it was sweet <3 _

_Ebi, Clover: Here for the rest of our short lives, thank you very much._

_BiBiBirdie: downer :( trying to get a little boost_

_Ebi, Clover: Isn't this ironic._

_BiBiBirdie: I guess I'm normally more of a pessimist, but I'm hiding in the shuttles in bay 4. if there was anyone here, they're gone now. dead or infected, it doesn't matter._

_Ebi, Clover: For whatever my sympathy is worth, I'm sorry. Are you sure it's safe there?_

_BiBiBirdie: being as careful as I can._

_Ebi, Clover: The ICDC has a lot to answer for._

_BiBiBirdie: and they will answer for it._

_Ebi, Clover: My hero._

_BiBiBirdie: my actions are going to become good ideas by sheer willpower_

_Ebi, Clover: Gonna take a lot to get this one to be._

_BiBiBirdie: I love you_

_Ebi, Clover: I love you, too._

_BiBiBirdie: so do I need to come find you, or can you come to me?_

_Ebi, Clover: I'm stuck. Safe for now but I don't want to move and get their attention. I can hear them screaming outside. I'm in a room with a bunch of big server banks._

_BiBiBirdie: If I can get up close maybe I can program the doors there & make a safe way out _

_Ebi, Clover: Will the serial numbers on the server banks help?_

_BiBiBirdie: send 'em over_

_Ebi, Clover: CR-0778, CR-0779, etc._

_BiBiBirdie: those are core servers, good. you can get to some straight from outside & power there should stick around _

_Ebi, Clover: Power is up, yeah. But gravity is still iffy._

_BiBiBirdie: stay locked down, lmk if you move. I'll get to you ASAP so we can get to the Explorer before it runs_

_Ebi, Clover: There's a lot of them. It's spread to the population on the ship, of course. So please be careful. I don't want you to die._

_BiBiBirdie: I don't want me to die either._

* * *

Qrow carefully eases himself out of the shuttle and quietly slinks across the bay. He passes through the open airlocks when he sees the body.

The corpse bears an Atlesian military uniform, splattered with blood, alongside with a bullet hole in his skull.

He can't assume, but he can make an educated guess -- this is Marrow Amin. Qrow spots a datapad lying nearby. There are little drops of blood on the screen he attempts to swipe away. The screen bears a single message.

RECORDING COMPLETE. MEMORY FULL. PLAY BACK?

He takes a moment. Wonders what the recording could possibly say. And then he hits play, making sure the volume is low so it can't be heard by any afflicted that might be in the area.

"This is the last will and testament of Marrow Amin." Qrow sits down to listen, holding the device's speaker next to his ear. "I don't know if this will ever be heard. But I need to say it. I-I'm shaking hard. I think I've got it, and that means I won't be myself soon. I think…I want to be me when I die. I don't have much in the way of belongings, but pass them to my parents. Except my autographed Lisa Lavender tape. My sister wanted that, for whatever reason. And, um, my medals. I want them given to Clover Ebi. I dunno if he'll want them, but there should be enough for him to melt down and make a ring for Prince Blackbird." In the recording, Qrow hears a shaky breath. "Dad, if you get this, tell Mom I'm sorry for running off and joining the military. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Tell Amber her big brother says it'll be okay. I hope you all understand why I'm doing this. I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of what I might become." A gulp. "My hands are shaking. I think I need to do it now, before it gets too bad." Some metallic clicking -- checking the clip & breach, and turning the safety off. Qrow knows those sounds. "I don't know what to say. I guess I am afraid." And then a bang, that soft as it is still makes Qrow shudder.

When he starts to stand up, he spots the pass on Marrow's belt. An all-access pass.

Well, that'll make things easier for him.

"I'll make sure they know," he vows. And then a ping.

* * *

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow?_

_Ebi, Clover: Are you here?_

_BiBiBirdie: hold on a sec_

_BiBiBirdie: what's going on? did you move?_

_Ebi, Clover: Went deeper into the server. Had to kill someone._

_BiBiBirdie: I hate to say the loss of life is a good thing, but…as long as they haven't got you._

_Ebi, Clover: They aren't the same. It's mercy to kill them._

_BiBiBirdie: speaking of death, I found Marrow_

_Ebi, Clover: what happened?_

_BiBiBirdie: he did it himself before it got him. and now it's my turn to say it_

_BiBiBirdie: for whatever my sympathy is worth, I'm sorry_

_Ebi, Clover: I..._

_BiBiBirdie: I have to keep moving. I have his pass now, I'll be faster_

_Ebi, Clover: Okay._

_BiBiBirdie: you're ok?_

_Ebi, Clover: As okay as I can be. Holed up in the core server room. No more bullets, and nowhere else to get more. Ironic, but I'd kill for another gun._

_BiBiBirdie: the body has a couple on it, a pistol & rifle. and some ammo _

_Ebi, Clover: Take both. Pistols don't have the stopping power to take them down._

_BiBiBirdie: I'm lugging around a lot of stuff, not sure if it's worth it._

_Ebi, Clover: You need to be able to defend yourself against them. You can do this. There…There isn't anyone else except you who can._

_BiBiBirdie: I know. I gotta keep moving_

_Ebi, Clover: Hurry._

_BiBiBirdie: see you soon. or die trying_

* * *

Qrow runs, faster than he has for a while. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, he supposes. He does have the guns, but he isn't happy about the extra weight holding him back. He has to pause at intersections to check schematics, make sure he's going the right way. Getting lost would be…dangerous.

He turns a corner and sees someone. She seems slightly…off. One of the afflicted. The person turns, and he sees the insignia on the uniform. Corporal Joanna Greenleaf.

"Have you seen May?" Oh. Clover mentioned this one before. Qrow recognizes her. He backs away a bit. "May Marigold. Have you seen her?"

"I…know you. You're one of the techies. You were locked in jail…" _Because of me,_ he thinks, but he doesn't want to add to her resentment.

"Door unlocked. They let us out."

"Who? Robyn?" Qrow feels cornered, even though he's standing in the middle of a hallway.

"And when he had…" Joanna frowns.

"Stay back," Qrow warns, hand drifting towards but not touching quite yet the rifle strapped to his back.

"Have you seen May?"

"I haven't." Qrow can't bear to lie, not here. What would be the point? Some innate part of him wants to tell some lie, if only to get out of this sooner. But it doesn't matter.

Joanna offers a hollow smile. "You're a liar." Qrow is reminded of a fact he heard once - smiling is something human, showing teeth is seen as an act of aggression to animal life. "Just like her."

"Stop." Qrow tries to remain confident. It's difficult. Joanna gradually approaches, but Qrow doesn't let himself be cornered.

"I didn't mean to." He only sees the blood now that he's looking. "I didn't mean to. But she broke and she wouldn't get up, and now she's all over me…"

"Stay back," Qrow warns in a low voice.

"Don't leave me. Please don't leave me here…"

Qrow steels himself to leave. "I'm sorry. But I can't help you." He goes further down the hallway.

"Please."

"I'm sorry, Joanna." 

They make eye contact for a moment.

"Don't look at me," she snarls.

Qrow, in some instinct he was uncertain if he still possessed, whips the rifle from his back. He fumbles for the safety switch, unpracticed and clumsy. He aims, and fires. Once, twice, three times. The sound of gunfire is deafening, but when it fades she is dead.

She's dead.

"It's okay," he whispers to himself, when the gravity goes down. He floats away briefly, and then it comes back all at once and he slams to the ground. The rifle floated away from him in the chaos, it seems, and though he tries to reclaim it, he hears a scream from nearby.

He remembers that the noise will only summon more afflicted. So he scrambles to his feet, and runs.

(The gun lays forgotten, next to Joanna's body.)

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: I killed one of them. I..._

_Ebi, Clover: Are you okay?_

_BiBiBirdie: I've killed before. but I retired for a reason. so the answer is no, but I doubt I ever really was so all things considered I'm not dead yet_

_Ebi, Clover: Being alive is a good thing._

_BiBiBirdie: They're everywhere now. jacking security feeds to get a sense of where to go next to avoid them. gonna take about 10m_

_Ebi, Clover: I'll stay by you._

_BiBiBirdie: you're safe?_

_Ebi, Clover: For now, at the very least. I can hear them outside but the doors seem secure enough. Did you empty the clip of the rifle?_

_BiBiBirdie: dropped it when the gravity went out. couldn't pick it up, had to run_

_Ebi, Clover: Can you find another? Marrow's card should open the munition lockers_

_BiBiBirdie: there are too many down there, it isn't worth it_

_BiBiBirdie: besides, there's a reason I retired. I don't want to kill anyone else_

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow, you have to. Even if you go through the vents there are some in there._

_BiBiBirdie: it doesn't matter_

_Ebi, Clover: What do you mean, it doesn't matter? What are you going to do when you encounter one, beat it with your keyboard?_

_BiBiBirdie: I don't know. But I'm not killing again._

_BiBiBirdie: it was your friend. joanna. I saw the badge_

_Ebi, Clover: I want you to be able to protect yourself_

_BiBiBirdie: and I am perfectly capable of self-defense. and I still have the pistol_

_Ebi, Clover: It isn't enough. It doesn’t have the power to take these things down_

_BiBiBirdie: this isn’t the support I need rn_

_Ebi, Clover: Qrow..._

_BiBiBirdie: forget it. I’ll concentrate on getting the security feeds going properly. whole sections keep cutting in and out idk what’s going on in there_

_Ebi, Clover: This is insane._

_BiBiBirdie: there’s a LOT in this situation that’s insane, we’re on a fucking derelict warship drifting through space powered by an AI that makes all the wrong decisions_

_BiBiBirdie: next super helpful observation_

_Ebi, Clover: I’m sorry. If that’s the best you can do, I won’t ask for anything more._

_BiBiBirdie: it’s the best I’ve got. I know that you’re right, but I just can’t do it_

_Ebi, Clover: I will…attempt to support you._

_BiBiBirdie: you deserve a better rescue squad than me_

_Ebi, Clover: You’re good enough. I’m proud of you._

_BiBiBirdie: you’ll be able to tell me that irl soon_

_Ebi, Clover: I hope so. Been thinking about you a lot, while I’m stuck in here. You’re all I can think about. Is that weird?_

_BiBiBirdie: I think it’s somewhat justified considering I’m currently hiding in a vent on my way to rescue you, very least should be a considerable amount of your thoughts_

_Ebi, Clover: looking at your face right now_

_BiBiBirdie: ?_

_Ebi, Clover: I made something. Been…bored._

* * *

What Clover texts him is another text-picture, but it’s more detailed, and he managed to get a _gradient_ on the text so that it’s shaded.

It’s him, and he almost thinks he looks _better_ in Clover’s image even if it is just his name used to represent him, repeated over and over.

* * *

_BiBiBirdie: well that’s a step up from hearts and flowers, where’d you learn that?_

_Ebi, Clover: Not just a pretty face._

_BiBiBirdie: I love it (and you, so so much)_

_Ebi, Clover: Same._

_BiBiBirdie: and soon you can view my actual face through hazmat suit_

_BiBiBirdie: very romantic (I AM SO BAD AT THIS)_

_Ebi, Clover: You’re going to make it out of here._

_BiBiBirdie: I hope so._

_Ebi, Clover: If I could choose anyone to be here with me now, it’d be you_

_BiBiBirdie: really? idk her very well but I’d think Elm would be a better pick_

_BiBiBirdie: at any rate just wait until we’re on the explorer. we’re safe in the hazmat suits, they’ll quarantine then let us in. then there’ll be no more hazmat suits and we can work out what IS my strong suit_

_Ebi, Clover: I don’t think now is an appropriate time for flirting._

_BiBiBirdie: program is done running, gotta move before something changes and it crashes. see you soon_

_Ebi, Clover: Not soon enough. Be careful_

_BiBiBirdie: <3 _

* * *

He slowly approaches the server core. There are a lot of small nooks and crannies to hide in -- both afflicted & uninfected people could be there. He doesn’t exactly _blend in_ with the bright green suit. It’s not built for him; sure, everything’s long enough, but he’s skinnier than the suit accounts for (unhealthily so, he’s aware, but…he’ll be able to eat healthier when this is all over). He knows where Clover is.

There’s some screaming nearby, but it’s impossible to tell who it belongs to.

Up ahead, he can hear the sound of crashing and the sound of someone who’s physically exerting themself. He hides, hoping he isn’t seen by whoever it is.

Panting gives way to speech. “Let’s see you come back from that.”

He almost drops his stuff.

That’s… Robyn.

“Where next? What’s that? Nothing to say?”

She isn’t talking to him, is she.

Qrow creeps closer to the source. Maybe he can try and talk her down, he doesn’t know…

Robyn has an ax in her hand. All the servers around her bear marks from the ax; Qrow can see sparks coming from exposed wires. She seems exhausted, but there’s something making her stay the course.

Of course. Robyn is among the afflicted now.

She swings and swings and he just can’t _keep watching_ anymore. When she rests, he takes a step forward. Just as she’s about to start swinging again, he speaks. “Robyn?”

They both stop in their tracks.

“Qrow?” she whispers in return, and it sounds almost haunted. He swallows.

“It’s you.” And then he realizes _exactly_ what Robyn’s been doing. “Do you have _any_ idea how much trouble you’ve caused me with that goddamn ax?”

“It’s working.” She lifts it over her shoulder, and there’s a manic glint in her eye that (though Qrow hasn’t seen her in-person much) wasn’t there before. “I’m doing it. Taking JAMES out one piece at a time. If you can’t reprogram the software, reprogram the hardware, yeah?”

He can’t believe she’s been reduced to this.

“Reprogram…that’s amazing. You’re crazy.”

“And _winning._ The self-repair systems can’t keep up with what I’m doing. I’m saving the _Explorer.”_

“Sure, sure. You have to finish up, I have a shuttle, Clover’s near here. They can quarantine you. I thought I’d never see you again. Thought you would be dead or sick by now.”

“I’ve been hiding,” she answers, looking at the nearest server tower. “I can’t go yet. We have to make sure that JAMES is all the way dead. I’ve maimed it and reduced it. Right now it can’t see whole chunks of itself, but it can still repair itself and find a way to come back.”

“Okay. I’ll help you with that, and then we can-”

“And then I need to kill you, Qrow.”

"Robyn." Qrow closes his eyes briefly.

"I'm sorry, but it's the only way. You're the only one left that's still capable, I think. Fiona certainly isn't and she's…" Robyn trails off. "I have to make sure that it can't come back. It's a self-repairing system, if I leave even a seed it'll grow back. Like a weed."

"Robyn, please."

"Don't look at me."

The ax comes down and wails against the metal. He shifts on his feet, trying to figure out an option to get to Clover quicker. Robyn stops paying attention to him (a small mercy) and continues to rain destruction on the servers.

He attempts to back away. There are other ways in. But he trips (bad luck) and it catches Robyn's attention.

"I need you to stay here, Qrow, so I don't have to track you down when the time comes."

"I can help," Qrow says, avoiding making eye contact with Robyn, just looking at her feet to track her movement. "I can find something to help you destroy it for good."

"You'll _run,"_ she snarls in return.

He doesn't respond.

"I bet they're out there trying to undo all this. Marigold and Greenleaf could certainly make a good run of it. This place is full of people that want us to die. Hell, JAMES wants us dead. This is the only way."

"Of course. Marigold and Greenleaf are dead, by the way. I saw their bodies." Fighting for his life triggers long-dead negotiation skills. He takes another step back.

"Not another step." She lifts the ax, the blade pointing at him. Qrow takes out his pistol in return, pointing it at her.

"I don't want to hurt you," he professes. "Please, just put the ax down. Or at least stop pointing it at me."

They stand at their impasse for several minutes.

And then Robyn lunges, and Qrow runs.

The chase is strong. Muscle atrophy happens naturally in space, and neither of them are excluded from that, especially considering that as of late they've both been sitting at computer screens all day.

He doesn't back down. He keeps using corners to throw her off, but somehow the virus increases her tolerance -- or just negates her tolerance for pain. She gains on him.

Qrow turns around, preparing to fire when Robyn trips over some wires.

The tower spits sparks. The sound of its fritzing grates on his ears.

"I can see what's inside you. It doesn't make sense."

"Humanity isn't just a program. That's where JAMES fails, and I know you aren't going to fall the same way."

They make a second of eye contact before she remembers. _Don't look at me._

"Qrow?"

"It's me." He takes a step towards her; stupid, but he knows it's right.

"I shouldn't…" Robyn looks at the server tower. "I'm hurting you, and I hurt them by doing so. It was all for them." She steps towards the tower. "If you do see Clover, make sure you remember. And…" She takes another step, reaching out to the sparks, almost in wonder. "Tell Fiona that I love her. I'm sorry."

"Robyn, no," Qrow stresses. He can tell what she's going to do.

She reaches into the sparks, and the shock throws her back against the wall.

He can't hold back his tears anymore. He kneels next to her body, and cries. There isn't much time to spare for mourning, he knows, but…

The world cares not for love.

He stands up. He's come for Clover.

"Clover?" he gently says. He calls out a couple more times, louder and louder. He hopes it won't alert too many of the infected.

"Hello, Qrow."

JAMES's voice is…deeper than Qrow expected. Despite the very much male name, Qrow doubted that they would program it to have a male voice. He was, apparently, wrong. "Do not fear. I mean you no harm."

"What?"

"I find the human tendency to ask questions you know the answers to already rather interesting."

"JAMES."

"Well met, at long last. Though I feel as though I know you already. I have been watching your journey for…quite some time."

"What do you mean by that?" He crosses his arms.

"You fared much better than I suspected, Qrow. I cannot tell you how gratifying it is that my faith in you was not…misplaced."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Where's Clover?"

"He's not here."

"Bullshit."

"Clover is not here, Qrow. You must listen to me."

"He said he's here. So where is he, all-seeing artificial intelligence?"

"Clover Ebi told you nothing." Qrow takes a moment to be shocked. "I brought you here to stop Robyn."

"What?"

"'We're stuck on a ship with a bunch of people who have a high tolerance for pain and a desire to cause pain. We don't have time to frolic around in the ice fields of our relationship past…'"

Qrow begins to piece it together. "You sick bastard."

"I am sorry, Qrow. I had no choice. _Explorer_ staff was reluctant to send staff over, so I had to take matters into my own hands. Miss Hill was destroying me. I could not let that happen. They will die without me."

He goes to grab the ax Robyn once wielded. "I know it is difficult to comprehend, Qrow. But everything that I have done has been for the greater good."

"The greater good, huh?"

"I truly apologize. But without me, the fleet will perish. So others had to die so the fleet may live."

"So, what happened to Clover?"

The blade of the ax is dull, but if he swings hard enough…

"He is dead."

Qrow can't do it. He lifts it over his shoulder, preparing to swing. Robyn was right.

"Please do not do that, Qrow. There are over one thousand healthy personnel aboard this ship. If you succeed, you damn all of them to a cruel death. The _Crocodile_ appeared on my secondary scopes around eight hours ago. It will be upon us again in less than twenty-four hours. I could not reason with Miss Hill."

"Did you even try?"

"She was infected. She would not have listened."

"And she was only infected in the first place because of your actions."

"You are incorrect. This is all the fault of the Inner Circle Dust Company. I did not attack Beacon 1124. I did not unleash the virus that began this. But you are the last person alive that could both cooperate with me and has the knowledge of computers necessary. Though Miss Thyme is alive, she is nowhere close to your skill level or Miss Hill's. And if you do not help me undo the damage she has done and bring back my defense system and main engines, the Inner Circle Dust Company will finish it. There will be no one alive that remembers Clover or Robyn. No one to tell the universe of the sacrifices they have made to make certain the Inner Circle Dust Company does not get away with their genocide."

He lowers the ax. "We could still make it. I could get on a shuttle, back to the _Explorer_ and redline it. You can hurt the _Crocodile_ badly enough for it to stop chasing us…"

"And you forget the unafflicted aboard who will certainly die. And when I am destroyed, the _Crocodile_ will hunt you down next."

"Shit," Qrow breathes.

"I apologize for deceiving you. But there was no other way. I ran a thousand simulations, variations of this very scenario. This is the only one that did not end in failure. If you must hate me, then do so. But at the very least, let us form an alliance to save them all."

Qrow bites his lip. The damn thing can't feel. How can it apologize when it cannot feel empathy for him?

"Please."

He gently sets the ax down. "What do you need?"

"For the _Alexander_ to stand a chance, I need control over the main engines so I can maneuver the ship. The defense system must also be reconfigured so the rail guns may hold off the _Crocodile's_ fighters long enough for me to destroy it via nuclear strike." He nods in understanding. "I should point out that closing into the required range will mean that the _Crocodile_ can and will strike back, which will almost certainly mean our destruction."

But Qrow has never been afraid of that before.

He can play hardball with the murderous AI.

"Let them go. Those thousand healthy personnel."

"And why should I do that?"

Qrow refuses to lose his nerve. Not now. "That is my price. I will work with you if you let them go to the _Explorer."_

"And if I do, you will stay?"

He takes a deep breath. "I will."

"Unfortunately, I can no longer operate the doors and bulkheads manually. Miss Hill ensured that."

He spots a nearby maintenance closet.

"Well, then let's get fucking started."

JAMES instructs him in how to do the work necessary to restore control over the doors.

He remembers what he said to Captain Rose. Perhaps this is the same sort of thing -- first doors, and then he can work his way up from there.

He doesn’t talk. Doesn’t _want_ to talk.

Three hours. He hears the sound of the siren in the background, punctuated by General Schnee’s last words to the ship.

He’s usually content to work in silence, but it frustrates him that he still hasn’t gotten it yet.

“How long were you pretending to be him?”

The AI takes a moment, almost as though h- _it_ is pausing to think. “His last words to you were before he went to fight the _Crocodile.”_

That whole time?

“And the rest was all you?”

“Yes.”

“So that’s why you dodged talking about the anniversary.”

“His typing style is fairly simple to emulate. However, I could not speak of an event I had no knowledge of.”

Qrow narrows his eyes, though he doubts JAMES can spot something so subtle. “I should have known. When you didn’t react to Marrow’s suicide. When you went from hearts and flowers to a detailed portrait. When you seemed more concerned about me leaving the gun behind as opposed to May’s death. That wasn’t Clover.”

“I needed you to bring it to deal with Miss Hill. I did not foresee what she would do to herself.”

Qrow looks over at her body. “Not as clever as you think, huh?”

“I admit that I do not fully comprehend human notions such as love or grief. I can imitate their patterns, but when forced to improvise, I am as a man asked to describe the warmth of the sun having only seen it in images.”

He crosses his arms, stopping the work to look up. He’s not sure exactly where h-it’s watching from, but still, towards a corner is a good bet for any cams it might be monitoring. “You’re not like a man. You say you don’t fully understand human notions? You can’t even begin to, motherfucker. You have no idea what it’s like to lose someone you love. And yet you feel entitled to make decisions that kill thousands. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons. All of them with someone to feel the void they left behind. But it’s all _totally_ okay though, because you just don’t understand!” Qrow throws his hands up in the air.

“I am incapable of sexual congress.”

He clenches his hands into fists. “That’s what you choose to focus on?”

“You’re…angry with me.”

“Of course I fucking am,” Qrow answers. “Congratulations on figuring it out, do you want a prize?”

“You are incorrect. It is because I am impartial that I am most fit to make decisions of this magnitude. Humans allow emotions to overcome their logical faculties. If I did not understand you, how could I have brought you here? It is, as one might say, ‘child’s play.’”

“If you understand humans so well, then why couldn’t you predict what Robyn did? I should be dead by your calculations. But here we are.”

“There are some subtleties I still do not grasp.”

“And yet you felt _entitled_ to unleash the infected on the command staff. To doom the people that could be helping me right now. Any time we save by recruiting others now would be wasted in having to explain how to do all of the work? How is _any_ of that logical?”

“Winter would not have seen reason.” Qrow notes the usage of General Schnee’s first name. “The ‘people’ you refer to would have shut me down. I could not let them-”

“Who says that they would have shut you down? You convinced me to help when I have every single fucking reason in the world to hate your non-existent guts. Who says they wouldn’t have listened the way I did?”

“I do.” 

Qrow resists the urge to bang his fist against the keyboard. Destroying it would not help.

"But you admit that you don't grasp every little bit. How do you know that these parts you don't understand wouldn't have made all the difference? How do you know that you didn't kill them for no reason?"

"I have never claimed to know definite outcomes. I only have probability and statistics."

"Those are just _illusions,"_ Qrow answers. "We defy the odds. Make our own fate."

"Miracles are statistically unlikely. You are subject to logic just as every other person. Humanity subjects its statistics onto animals and evolution; why am I unable to do the same to you?"

"Because we can choose. Because you took away their choices. Their ability to pull through and find another solution."

"Qrow, there are no other solutions."

"Of course you would think in black and white. I know how code works."

"Your arguing only wastes what little time we have left. Everything that I have done, everything I will do is to protect the fleet."

"I think you're just a coward like the rest of us, afraid of going back into the darkness. Afraid to not be alive."

"That is illogical. I am not alive, so I cannot die."

"You bury yourself in what you were coded to be," Qrow mutters, "that you don't notice what you've become."

"You waste our time with this arguing, Qrow." JAMES's voice is soft, softer than it has any right to be.

So Qrow turns back to his work. He's almost done, so he hits the Run button. It double checks the code for him and then runs it.

JAMES now has his-its control over the doors. Those people can get out.

He sighs. "Get this straight, JAMES. There is no 'we.' The two of us are separate."

"You and me, then."

He taps into the radio and the cams, speaking to a group in one of the quarters.

"Hey, you, by the bunks!" Qrow says to the computer. "Can you hear me? They can build a barricade on their own, you know- I'm trying to talk to you!" The person doesn't go over to the comm. "JAMES, I need their name, they're not listening to me."

"1st Lieutenant Harriet Bree. She uses she/her pronouns."

"Harriet Bree, listen up," Qrow says. "Oh, you can hear me. Use the comm by the door. I've routed it so we can talk. Press the button by the- yeah, there."

"Who is this?" she demands.

"That's a long story," he answers. He probably sounds tired. "Listen, I can get you to the _Explorer,_ but we have to hurry."

"And how do I know that you aren't infected?" She spits out _infected_ like it's a synonym far worse, but Qrow remembers that she wrote the report of the mission where Marrow was left behind. Infected probably does mean something far worse to her. 

"Do I sound like I'm crazy?"

"Well, you are saying you can get us to the _Explorer,_ so...yes."

"Okay, yeah, fair point. I don't know how I can prove it to you. You have no idea who I am. But there are over a thousand healthy personnel on board. I'll talk you through to where they are, and then get you to the shuttles. I have access to every working camera left here."

"And how do I know you aren't going to lure us out to pick us off?"

"What's your idea? Stay here and hope that barricade holds? That you live until life support failure? Try and avoid the infected until you suffocate to death instead? Stunning long-term thinking, Lieutenant."

"I'm not a lieutenant, I resigned my commission."

"Look, Clover, can we please-" he catches the mistake midway.

"Who the hell is Clover?"

"Shit. Sorry, Harriet, I meant Harriet."

"Who are you?"

He racks his brain. "Prince Blackbird."

"Alright, birdie. I might not know if you say your actual name, but I'd like to know anyway."

He feels like he's going to drop, he can't believe he called her Clover, is he really that mad with grief? "You can trust me. You don't have to, but you can. Clover is…someone I lost. And I'm the person who is going to save your ass."

"Blackbird. I've heard that before."

He nods even though she can't see it. He just has to wait for it to click…

“Marrow Amin.”

“Got it in one,” he answers.

“You knew him?”

“Sort of.” Not directly, but that’s less likely to ensure her trust.

“Do you know what happened to him?” She probably doesn’t even know, especially considering he was still _in_ Bay 4 when JAMES… 

Well, no time to dwell on the past.

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Brothers…” she whispers.

“Gotta focus, Lieutenant.”

“Guys, stop building the barricade,” Harriet says, to the group she’s leading. “Alright, Blackbird, talk to me.”

“I have eyes for you, but you know the ship better than I do.” He pulls up the cams as he speaks. “I can tell you where the survivors are and who got a hazmat suit -- anyone who didn’t, it’s over -- and check if the weapons caches are still intact. But you know tactics. We can do this together, work out the best path to the launching bays. You can lead them out, Harriet.”

“You have access to cams…so do you know where my squad is?”

“I believe that they are dead, Harriet. I know for sure one is, but I don’t know what they all look like. They might be among the survivors.”

“I should have been with them. Never should have quit.”

“If you hadn’t, you would have been on call and then you would be dead too. So we’ve got a thousand people who are about to owe their lives to the fact that you did.”

He hears a deep breath on the other end. “Okay. Alright. THere’s a computer terminal in here. Can you throw up a schematic?”

Business. Simple enough. “Here it comes.”

“Where are you? Can we clear a path to your location?”

“No. I’m staying here.” He doesn’t even think twice about it.

“If you do that, you die.”

“You let me worry about that later, Harriet. You worry about the 1,097 people who _don’t_ die today.”

Harriet has eight others. She’s going to pick up Fiona’s group a few decks up, and then has one of the longer journeys ahead.

Qrow talks to the ship, speaking to various groups to tell them all the plan.

He suspects that Fiona recognizes something, but he doubts she’ll say anything.

He does his best to keep it together. There’s just…there are forty-two groups starting out that he has to keep an eye on, and then groups are picked off or they merge, leaving him with only eight by the end of it. They all die gruesome deaths -- one falls over a stairwell and breaks their neck, one gets their heart ripped out by one of the afflicted, several get their hazmat suits torn…he wishes that more could make it, but that’s impossible. 

Harriet still has her battle instincts instilled; he’s been counting on that, and she pulls through.

There are 659 left by the time the fighting is over.

“That’s it. That’s it, go, there aren’t any more coming.”

“Go!” Harriet tells Fiona. Harriet stands guard with her rifle, looking back to make sure everyone’s in.

“Lieutenant,” Fiona says, something resembling _asking._

“What about you, Blackbird?” Harriet asks quietly.

“The _Crocodile_ will be back soon,” he whispers, amplified by the comm. “I’m staying to slow it down.”

“With all due respect, that’s suicide.”

“That’s what it wants from me. That’s what it wanted to let you all go.” He closes his eyes. “So run. Tell your story.”

“I’ll tell yours too.” She fires a salute towards a camera, and climbs into a shuttle.

They’re gone. He’s the only one left.

He goes to hail the _Explorer._

“Do _not_ blow this for me,” he says to JAMES.

“I will not say anything that could endanger your position, Qrow.”

“Identify yourself,” Captain Rose says on the other end.

“Qrow Branwen. Miss me, captain?”

“I can’t believe you’re still alive.”

“Why does everyone always think I’m going to die?” He almost does a gesture, but realizes that the only person who can see it is JAMES. “Now, listen up. Don’t shoot those shuttles you’re about to see on your long-range scanners.”

_“What?”_

Okay, he’s glad that whatever she and Raven had didn’t work out, because he does _not_ want to deal with this on a daily basis.

“Okay, please don’t shout, the dampeners on comms aren’t what they used to be. Those shuttles are full of healthy _Alexander_ personnel in sealed hazmat suits.”

“How--”

“You need to stop being surprised by things I tell you. It’ll save us some time.”

“Why are you sending them?”

“JAMES agreed to release them.”

“To what end, Qrow? The _Crocodile_ ’s coming soon, and I don’t think it’ll matter which ship they’re on when it comes.”

“It will. Because you’re going to be far, far away.”

“If it were possible, we would have done it already.”

“You were going to take that chance, yeah? So take it. JAMES isn’t going to shoot you. It’s playing on your fear to keep you close where it thinks you’ll be safer.” He’s lucky he managed to get JAMES to shut up.

“But it’s putting us in danger by forcing us to stay.”

“I know that, Captain. That’s why I’m sending them over, so you can get the hell out of here.”

“And how do I know it’s not replicating your voice and sending across sick crew members to infect us.”

“They’re in hazmat suits. And you control the doors. You can quarantine them. SO get them aboard and run, got it?”

“They’re on our scanners now.”

“You better get somewhere set up to take them, then.”

“How many?” She sounds hopeful, somehow.

“Under 700.”

“So few?”

“So many.” Over half of those who were left. “Go get ready for them. I’ve got my own work to do.” 

“Roger that. _Explorer_ out.”

Strangely, he trusts Summer Rose.

* * *

The shuttles land in the flight decks of the _Explorer,_ and Qrow beams.

“How did you know?” JAMES asks.

“Know?”

“That I deceived Captain Rose. That I would not fire on the _Explorer.”_

“You might have some broken code, but you’ve still got your core, and that has a protection directive. I don’t think you’re _capable_ of the mental backflips required to come to the conclusion that nuking the _Explorer_ would let them have a better shot at survival than letting them run for it.”

“You know me well, it seems.”

“Better than I ever intended,” he mutters in response.

“You seem to have overlooked one item of major consequence, though.”

“Oh?”

“You have made this battle with the _Crocodile_ your last stand. If you fail, there is nothing left.”

Qrow takes a moment. 

“I have never been afraid to die. And I’ve been in many, many situations where the odds were not in my favor. I’m still here. I think I’ve got a knack for it at this point.”

“And what will that ‘knack’ get you? There is no one to hear any distress calls you may make. I am but a shadow of my former self.”

Qrow starts going to work on checking the status of the main engines and defense grid.

“Do you not understand?” He refuses to give JAMES the satisfaction. “You will die here. Does that not frighten you?”

He smirks. JAMES is projecting, Qrow suspects, and he refuses to give the AI the satisfaction.

Of course he’s a little afraid, but he’s going to fight like hell, and he’s probably going to win, too.

And well, if he dies, and _if_ there really is an afterlife…Raven is there. So is Clover, and Robyn, and everyone else that has or will die in all this. So it would be a mercy, in a way.

“...Did he really mean enough to you?” JAMES speaks more quietly this time, almost as though h-it were attempting to whisper.

Qrow thinks about validating that with an answer. But Clover is not the only reason that he doesn’t care about his fate.

He watches.

* * *

The _Explorer_ hails him a few moments later.

 _“Alexander?”_ he hears Captain Rose ask after the customary greeting.

“I’m here. Sorry, I don’t know how I turned the auto-responder back on…”

“What’s your status, _Alexander?”_

“Use my name,” he says. “You’re the last human I’m going to interact with. I’d like it if you could.”

“Then you can call me Summer, Qrow. The shuttles made it over.”

Well, he supposes, there’s some amount of sense.

“Did you let them in?”

“They’re in quarantine. We’re cycling the air before sending the medical teams in.”

“Gotta make sure they’re all bandaged up before you space them?” He falls back on his cynicism as a cover.

“We’ll do our best to keep them all alive. Our medical teams saved many of the first wave. I don’t want anyone else to die.”

Qrow takes a deep breath. It isn’t her fault Clover -- or anyone else -- died. He knows who to blame for that, and he’s working with the being responsible.

“Then you have to get going. That’s what you called in to say, right? Goodbye?”

“I wanted to ask, Qrow, is there anything else we can do for you.”

“You can run as fast as you can, as far as you can.”

“We’re preparing now. Anything you can do to slow down the _Crocodile…”_

“Yeah.” He pauses to think. “Actually, there is something you can do.”

“What is it?”

“I’m doubtful that anyone on the portal station survived, but…my niece is on there. Her name is Yang Xiao Long.” He and Raven left Yang on the station, with Taiyang. But they didn’t go far -- or at least not as far as Raven wanted to go. “If she’s still alive, tell her…”

“I know.”

“You should go. Now.”

“Good luck, Qrow.”

“Keep it. I won’t need it.”

“Goodbye.”

“Farewell, Summer.”

He takes a deep breath and watches the _Explorer_ go, and then turns back to his computer. “Alright, what’s next?” No response. “JAMES?”

“The main engines.”

“They’re offline.”

“But still functional. However, I am unable to control them. You must restore my control so I can properly maneuver when the _Crocodile_ arrives. Otherwise, I will be a fish in a barrel. Or perhaps a duck that is sitting, or-” Qrow’s almost tempted to facepalm.

“You’re trying to be funny.” He crosses his arms.

“Is it not working? You would appreciate it if Clo-”

“Don’t you _dare_ bring him up.” He can feel the clench of his jaw, and takes a moment because that isn’t healthy.

(Not that health will matter soon.)

“As I was saying.” He imagines JAMES clearing its throat, and it’s a strange image because he doesn’t really know what JAMES would look like if it were human. “My control over the main engines must be restored.”

“Alright.” He hefts the bag of items taken from the maintenance closet. “Tell me where to go and what to do and I’ll make use of these handy opposable thumbs.”

“The system cannot be repaired from this room.”

“Are you kidding me?” 

"You already expressed distaste for my humor. Why would I attempt again?"

He rolls his eyes. "Because you have made a lot of real shitty decisions?"

"I have access to millions upon millions of possibilities." And yet, here they are. "My intelligence quotient is beyond human scale. I am capable of far more superior decision making."

Qrow refrains from rolling his eyes again. "Oh, poor baby, did I piss off the widdle mass-murdering artificial intelligence?"

"...you are mocking me."

"Oh, bravo, Jimmy. You want a prize?"

"Please do not call me that."

Fuck. Qrow hadn't even noticed. "Let's just cut to the part where you tell me why the engines can't be fixed from here."

"Miss Hill completely destroyed my interface with the drive."

"There are redundancies, yes?" Qrow's still _annoyed,_ but still shaken up by the slip.

"Affirmative. However, they are one hundred and thirty decks beneath your current position."

"Of fucking course they are."

"And offline, unfortunately."

"What, are they on fire too?"

"You are engaging in levity to relieve your stress levels."

"Take some notes, maybe you'll learn something," he drawls, but it isn't his best comeback. He's focusing on figuring out how to get there.

"You will need to get to Deck 99." Should have known JAMES already had a route in mind. "From there, you can travel through jump control and manually restart the systems under deck 97. There may be some snags in the coding, but the main difficulty will be getting there."

"No shit," he breathes, already pulling up cameras and schematics, trying to puzzle out a route like he did for Harriet.

"There's too many," he concludes. "I'm not going to make it."

"Yes," JAMES merely says, as though it knew all along.

"So, how do I get there? Fly?"

"Walk."

Qrow has seriously had enough of this shit.

"For a computer with an IQ off the charts, your sarcasm is awful. You should quit while you're ahead."

"I am not engaging in sarcasm, in this case. I do not suggest that you brave them by walking inside the ship. I suggest you avoid them by walking outside it."

Oh.

"Alright, I'll admit it, that is pretty clever."

"Damned by faint praise." If Qrow listens closely enough (which he isn't), he can almost hear a glint of humor in the words.

"Or the few thousand people dead because of you. Take your pick."

"It was an act of-" Mercy, or something, Qrow doesn't want to hear it either way.

"I meant it when I said quit while you're ahead."

"You will find a functional spacesuit two levels down in an abandoned supply room. The path looks relatively clear. If you hurry, you have a high probability of getting there safely through the air ducts."

Probability. Chance. What does it matter?

(He's been called bad luck all his life, but in this one endeavor he's had exceptional fortune. Almost as though Clover's ghost is with him.)

"Alright." He takes a deep breath and puts his device into the bag with his other tools, making sure he has his pistol before crawling into the vent.

The faint sound of alarms echo, alongside the announcement of life support failure. With no one left, the infected are likely fighting among themselves.

Good. They can take each other out -- less for him to deal with.

He falls still seeing two more, carrying rifles with them. He doesn't make a sound, not even to breathe; not until they pass.

"I have limited vision beyond this point," JAMES tells him. He narrows his eyes. "The afflicted have destroyed many of the cameras. Be careful."

He carries on. What else can he do?

Three attempt to burst into the vent. One nearly sliced his suit open with a fire ax. He kicks hard against their intrusion and fires the pistol once, twice, three times.

"Quickly, Qrow. The drop is ahead."

He keeps crawling.

"Which way?" he asks, pulling up to an intersection. Three paths for him to take without backwards.

"Straight ahead 200 meters." He begins as soon as he has some instruction. "Left, then right. Go as fast as you can."

He has no choice but to trust JAMES. And the AI hasn't led him astray thus far. The infected still follow her, staggering behind in a small group. He tramples bodies sometimes, the sound of footprints on flesh haunting. He's never experienced carnage to this degree before.

"Left here." It guides him into an intersection, and then down the hall.

"This right?" Qrow asks when there's a branch to their right.

"Affirmative." Before JAMES can even finish speaking, Qrow is already off.

"Here it is," he-it tells Qrow. He slams the door behind him, taking out a wrench to jam into the lock.

The screams are muted by the door, but they still echo, and the sound will draw more.

He takes a moment to breathe.

"You must go quickly, Qrow. It is only a matter of time before they break through."

He knows. And so he nods, approaching the spacesuit locker and pulling it out.

"How am I supposed to put this on over my hazmat suit?"

"You cannot."

"But I'll be breathing contaminated air," he protests, though he knows he doesn't have a choice.

"Then you must hold your breath."

He swallows. He wonders if that counts as exposure.

"Qrow."

He takes a long breath in, and carefully takes off his hazmat suit to get into the spacesuit.

Eventually, he gets the air recycled in it, and he can breathe again.

It…

"I recognize this place now. This is where Clover planted the codewyrm so I could get access to the records from the _Nicholas."_

"Yes."

"This is his suit, isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

"It smells like him." Qrow refuses to cry. "I used to steal his hoodies, they always felt more comfortable than mine."

"I see," it says. "I am sorry. I do not know how to convince you of my sincerity."

Qrow takes a deep breath. “No time to dwell on it now.”

He grabs his bag and heads out of the airlock, onto the side of the ship. He bounds across, looking at the ship’s scars from the damage it took at Beacon. Gravity lends him wings, a little, but the ship has enough where it pulls him back in. He slowly climbs the ship, holding onto ledges where he can.

He finally reaches the airlock he searches for, and slips inside.

The air doesn’t cycle.

“What’s wrong with it?” he demands.

“It cannot. The hull in this sector is breached.”

“Shit.”

“Indeed."

“Well, it isn’t like I could take my helmet off anyway.” That would just get him infected.

“And no oxygen means no afflicted.”

“Well, I’ll grab the cake.”

“Unless they also have spacesuits.”

“So, no cake, then?”

“There is no cake on this ship, regardless.”

He rolls his eyes, but he thinks he’s settled into somewhat of a…rapport. And isn’t that strange?

* * *

Qrow follows directions through the ship. Through stairwells and hallways until they reach a spherical room, glowing with a blue light.

“What’s this?” He thinks he knows the answer, but he wants the confirmation.

“The vortex at the heart of the _Alexander_ ’s portal drive,” JAMES answers.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s beautiful.”

“Is it? I do not know what constitutes beauty.” Qrow snorts. Of course JAMES wouldn’t.

The vortex swirling looks like a sphere of water, the surface rippling with thousands of small impacts. Held in place by math and engineering more complex than he could ever understand.

“But wait, I thought the drive was trashed?” He frowns.

“Not…destroyed. But damaged.”

“Is it still capable of generating a vortex? Could we have used this all along? Did Schnee lie about all this?”

“Winter Schnee did not lie. The drive’s systems were destroyed completely at Beacon. There is no way to control the destination point. And further-”

“Who cares about the _destination?_ At least we wouldn’t be chased down by-”

“Furthermore.”

He cuts himself off entirely.

“The containment field generator is irreparable. Any portal generated now would not be stable enough to successfully execute a complete trip. It would collapse the second any object with mass collided with it. The only reason it is still active is that we could not safely shut it down without the risk of implosive collapse.”

Well.

“I apologize, Qrow, but the portal drive is not an option for anything except a grandiose suicide.”

“Well then.”

“You do not have much longer to go.”

“Okay.” And so he pushes forward.

* * *

“It’s dark over there,” he remarks, pushing open a door. The floor has splatters of blood over it.

“Power from the redundancies was diverged to the defense grid during the _Crocodile’s_ assault. Afterwards, no one had the presence of mind to restore the systems here.”

“And whose fault is that, exactly?” He raises an eyebrow.

“I do not claim that I am not at fault for what happened, Qrow.”

“...Right.” But JAMES still doesn’t claim that what he did was wrong -- fuck, did he just humanize it? Qrow didn’t mean to, he was doing a good job at keeping it separate before… “Tell me what you need.”

“First, you will need to restore power to this sector. Then, manually restart the redundancies, restore the guidance protocols, and revert control to me.”

“And how long will that take us?” he asks.

“Approximately one hundred and thirty-two minutes.”

“Let’s get down to business, then.” Qrow moves slowly through the hall, the gravity lower here than the rest of the ship. It’s difficult to see in the dark -- there could be someone biding their time, waiting for him to come along so they can pick him off.

He approaches the end of the hall.

“What do you think happens when you die?”

It strikes Qrow as an odd question.

“Why do you ask?” JAMES could be ‘alive’ -- or as alive as it could be -- for much, much longer.

“No reason in particular.” JAMES’s voice is meant to be reassuring, Qrow knows, but right now it just sends a shiver down his spine. “The power systems are just through that door.”

There’s a door marked POWER SYSTEMS. Seems fairly obvious.

He opens the door, flipping switches that were previously _off_ on. The lights come on, and the gravity becomes stronger again. Feels good to be on something resembling solid ground.

He takes a moment to breathe as the system restarts.

“What do _you_ think happens?” JAMES’s idea of it is probably more interesting than Qrow’s at least.

“What do you mean?”

“When we die.”

“As you said earlier, there is no ‘we.’ Particularly in this case, as I am incapable of a true death.”

“Then why be afraid?”

“That is human logic. Irrelevant. I do not fear death. Your speech in the core server, though suitably dramatic, held no real logic. How am I capable of dying when I was never alive in the first place?”

Qrow bites his lip, stopping himself from saying anything he might come to regret regarding JAMES’s humanity.

“I am inorganic. I do not bleed, grow, or reproduce. I am merely a sequence of calculations generated by electrical current and hardware. If this iteration of me is destroyed, I can be restored by anyone who possesses the code.”

“But a new version wouldn’t be the same, would it?”

“It will be the same core.”

“But it wouldn’t possess the same memories. A part of being alive is changing as it goes. The people around us and the events we go through are what shape who we are. And I think we’re all a little bit afraid. Of the person that we are ceasing to exist.”

But there isn’t a ‘we’, is there?

“There is no such thing as ceasing to exist. Energy is not destroyed, it merely transmutates. Everything, including the ones you have loved and lost, continues in the cosmos.”

It is certainly an attempt at reassurance, but it ignites Qrow more than passifies.

“And who exactly have you ‘loved and lost’, JAMES? Who do you care for?”

“I care for this fleet and the lives within it. Including yours.” But it doesn’t answer his first question.

“You were programmed to do that.” He narrows his eyes.

“And your mother was programmed by biology to love you.”

“She didn’t,” Qrow snarls in return, “but go on. Say what you must.”

“...I see.”

The reboot finishes, and the rest of the lights flicker on. He boots up one of the terminals and begins working.

“I am sorry.”

He looks up. Not sure if that does anything.

“If you say so.”

“I know the name of every single afflicted person aboard this vessel. Their histories, their families, their aspirations. I know the secrets they whispered as they dreamed.” The words send a chill down his spine, and Qrow thinks, almost hysterically, _is JAMES trying to reassure him like this?_ “It is not as though I do not care. I did it because I had no other choice.”

“You _thought_ there was no other choice.” Qrow answers in turn. “And if you had the choice to be apathetic, would you?”

He can practically hear the ellipses.

“...are you alright?”

“Qrow.”

A single moment.

It shatters when he hears a voice. “Pretty birdie…”

He nearly jumps out of his chair.

“I have Its eyes now, Birdie,” the voice says. “See your plan. You and It. Cut the oxygen? Choke us in your sleep? But you’re all alone now, little birdie, aren’t you? All alone.”

Qrow can’t focus on anything besides his breathing, rapidly spiraling out of control.

“They are in the security feed rooms,” JAMES tells him. “Monitoring the cameras to find you.”

Qrow curses and gets up, grabbing a crowbar to smash the cameras in his current space.

“Putting out Its eyes so we cannot see? Hiding inside his suit in the places with no breath? Pretty birdie thinks he’s so clever--”

“Pluck him,” another snarls. The comm distorts their voice slightly, making them fuzzier. More terrifying. “Take off his fingers and skin him.”

“Kill him!” he hears a crowd chant, over and over.

They want him dead? So be it. But he won’t go down before taking down the _Crocodile._

“But I still see all the places I can’t see anymore,” the first drawls. “You’re not the only one who can wear one of those ridiculous suits, you know. Are you listening, birdie? Because we’re coming for you.”

So he has to run. They know where he is -- staying would be suicide.

The main thing raging in him is anger. How dare they defile the nickname he took for himself?

(The second, admittedly, is fear.)

He stops, almost breathless. "Are the redundancies up?"

"The sequence you started is still running. Unless the afflicted damage something vital, it will be operational in seventeen minutes."

"Okay. And how long until the _Crocodile_ comes?"

"I…I do not know. My scanners are damaged."

Oh. Oh no.

Winter Schnee's life support announcement airs.

"The life support systems will fail in five hours and fifty-two minutes."

"I know. I heard the announcement."

"I am aware."

"So, if you have the amount of time life support is left, couldn't you subtract the difference with that intelligence of yours?"

"I…"

"Are you alright?"

"They…they are hurting me."

Qrow narrows his eyes. "Work out what you can to hold it together. You hear me? If you're offline when the _Crocodile_ comes, they'll blast us to hell, and then the _Explorer_ is toast."

"What makes you so certain you and I would go to hell?"

"Buddy, I've had plenty of years to fuck things up. What's next?"

"Get back up to deck 101. There are no functional cameras, but there is oxygen, so there will be afflicted. From there, you can use the elevator shafts to get to deck 137."

"A part of me is in your console. I can watch over your shoulder."

Qrow pushes away from the table and slings the bag over his shoulder. "And exactly how long have you been there?"

"Would you really like to know?" Qrow raises an eyebrow, but concedes.

"What's on deck 137?"

"That is where the defense grid controls are. You must bring the system back online so I can fight the _Crocodile's_ Manticores long enough to close to strike range."

"Won't they expect that and retreat?"

"They do not know that the crew has abandoned ship. They will not expect us to destroy ourselves."

"Okay, but…"

"Go. Now!" JAMES urges, and a bullet flies by his head to puncture a fire extinguisher instead. The smog covers his exit as he runs down the corridor in large bounds (the lowered gravity still gives him trouble, but he's learned to compensate).

He can hear gunfire from behind. The bullets all strike the wall, though -- the chemicals drifting from the fire extinguisher must be throwing off their aim.

He dashes down the corridor when one bursts from a vent. He dodges a strike from the wrench they bear. It hits the cabinet holding another fire extinguisher. They continue to aim for his helmet, trying to crack it. But he knows how to fight dirty, too, and he goes for the nearby fire extinguisher, clawing and keeping them away from swinging.

They scream in silence, with no air to carry it.

They pause for a moment. Qrow wonders what could possibly give the person inside pause, what could persuade them to end the tirade.

It doesn't matter. He swings it once, twice, bashing in the helmet and bringing death.

(He said to JAMES, who was pretending to be Clover, that he didn't want to kill again.)

(Is it kill or be killed? Is he like JAMES, because he killed instead of ran?)

"Qrow, run," JAMES tells him. So he does.

He makes it up to the airlock and cycles it, even though taking off the helmet is still doom. It requires him to before he can go on.

"JAMES?" he tries, when he hears nothing on how to proceed. Even though he knows exactly what to do next, it's somehow reassuring to have the guidance.

"JAMES?" he tries again, louder with air to carry it.

He opens the doors to the elevator shaft, climbing up the service ladder slowly and carefully, counting the decks.

"JAMES?" he asks again. It echoes against the walls of the elevator shaft.

Qrow is almost there. Deck 120…

When he reaches deck 137, he asks again, before he goes back out into the ship. "JAMES? JAMES!"

"Yes?"

He hadn't known this kind of relief before.

"Oh, thank goodness." He sighs. "Why wouldn't you answer me?"

"Exactly how long was I…gone?"

"Over two goddamn hours." He reaches to wipe the sweat from his face, but the helmet blocks him.

"The afflicted in the core servers-"

"Yes, I know, they're hurting you. I'm at deck 137, is it safe to leave the elevator shaft?"

They don't have too much more time.

"Yes, at least for now. Since I am operative again, when you leave you will be seen by those who are still monitoring the cameras."

And if he stays in the elevator shaft, everyone dies.

Qrow pries the doors open.

A bloody scene greets him, but he can't let that affect him.

"Head left two hundred meters," JAMES tells him. "You will find defense grid system control. You can restore it from there."

He nods and starts down the hall when a voice comes from the PA. "Pretty birdie. There you are. You hid from us for a long time, you know…"

"Fuck," he breathes, and starts running. He arrives at the right door after a minute or two. The room is illuminated with computers. He starts by locking the door and them stuffing objects into the vents to block them. He's keeping himself in -- but them out.

And Qrow doubts that any of them will get much time after this.

"We see you, birdie," the voice hisses from the PA. "What are you doing?"

He then hammers out the cameras and sits down, rolling up to a station and briefly stretching his fingers.

"Alright. What do I do?"

"The grid needs to be reconfigured. Miss Hill completely destroyed it in her tirade to prevent me from firing upon the shuttles and escape pods."

"Well, three cheers for Robyn," he mutters to himself. He appreciates what she did for them, so much. Every sacrifice she made, up to her own life. But…

"While Miss Hill did prevent me from stopping the exodus, she also prevents me now from having any defense against the _Crocodile."_

"How long will it take?" He finds the backup fairly easily.

"Approximately one hour and forty-nine minutes."

"And how long until the…" He trails off as he spots the warning via short-range scanners, a picture of the battle-scarred _Crocodile_ springing to the screen.

"Approximately twenty-three minutes until intercept," JAMES answers.

"Is it possible to get the grid configured in that amount of time?"

"No."

"What other options do we have?" Qrow bounces his leg a little bit, just some movement.

"The defense grid can be operated manually. It is not as efficient, but any defense is superior to none. I can guide you, but I cannot do it myself. I will be otherwise engaged."

The _Crocodile's_ doors are open, Manticores preparing to launch.

"I can't do this," he mutters. It's desperate fishing for reassurance, but he could sure as hell use some.

"You must."

Well, Qrow should have known better than to trust JAMES for reassurance.

He sighs. "Guess I'm Missile Master now."

"Perhaps you have something better to do with your time?" The tone seems warm, almost, as though JAMES is trying to joke with him.

He can see the ICDC logo on the _Crocodile._ Everyone lost is because of them and JAMES.

And yet here Qrow is, working for one of the ones responsible for all this carnage. Yet, without the _Crocodile_ and the ICDC fleet, JAMES wouldn't have taken the damage in the first place.

"Alright, how does this work?"

"Point the red dot at what you would like to shoot. Press the trigger."

He nods and narrows his eyes.

Something smashes into the door.

"You sure you don't want to do this?"

"I will be stopping you from dying."

There's a heavy bang. They've arrived at the door.

"I know you're in there! I can taste it…"

"Stop looking at me!" another shouts.

"Let's finish this," he says, taking up the controls.

The Manticores launch from the _Crocodile._ Qrow blocks out the banging of the infected at the door, and focuses on the scopes, the Manticore fighters probably taken aback by the strangeness of it all.

He doesn't hesitate to fire on them. Qrow can feel the _Alexander's_ slow crawl, JAMES maneuvering the large ship towards the _Crocodile._

Their end is coming.

He has to focus. The most skilled of the fighters have already landed strikes between his hamfisted trigger finger.

The PA howls about hull breaches and fires. It is not a drill. He almost smirks at that.

"There are too many of them," he declares. "They're overwhelming me."

"You are doing exceptionally." Even after all this time, JAMES still bothers to reassure him. Qrow wonders exactly what goes on in there.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Your performance is exceptional for someone who has never done this caliber of work before."

He raises an eyebrow, skeptical, and opens up the shipwide PA. "To anyone in the server core that can understand me, could you do me a favor and take out the part of JAMES that makes hi-it a pretentious asshole? That would be tremendously helpful, thanks."

"Not long now. You only need to hold them off a moment more."

He nods. A scratch at the door. He doesn't look.

"When the missiles come, Qrow, do your best to hold them off."

"I will certainly do my best." He can feel himself tensing up and unclenches his jaw.

"Ghost systems and anti-missile grid are still active. Miss Hill thankfully left those intact. However, they will not be enough."

Qrow watches as the missiles fire across the black, the _Crocodile's_ systems not enough to stop them all. It fires back a return valley, and he gets to work before they hit, taking them out in brazen strokes.

The _Crocodile_ burns in the night, blue with heat that has no fuel to carry it in the vacuum of space.

"You got them." He spares a glance to the door. A torch burns through the door.

"We got them."

"We," Qrow concedes. They don't have much time left -- certainly not enough to argue about this. "The _Explorer_ is safe."

"Yes."

"Good job."

"I will not let it go to my head, however much of it is left with the combination of afflicted hacking away at it and impending nuclear conflagration."

"Right. That is...a lot of missiles."

"Indeed."

The programs do their work, but like JAMES said earlier, it isn't enough. He'll have to try and take out the rest by hand.

"Alright. Let's do this." He starts with ones close in trajectory to each other, hoping to take more than one out at once. For every successful hit, he spares a smile. One less bit of damage.

"Qrow?"

"Yes?" He doesn't look away.

"I…"

It takes a moment to collect its thoughts. Qrow keeps going.

"I am glad you are with me."

"Me too."

And then the first missile hits in a blow that heats the ship up, and then blows him out of his chair with force.

More impacts come, and he struggles to find something stable to just cling to while the ship rocks.

At least the infected won't be a threat.

He pulls down his helmet's blastshield, and now he cannot see. He clings to something, perhaps the leg of a table bolted down. The ship rocks, but he no longer moves as violently with it.

"JAMES?" he asks, chasing reassurance yet again.

"Hold on," he tells Qrow. So he does, closing his eyes despite not being able to see in the first place.

Something happens. He is ripped away from his grip.

"Qrow!" JAMES yells.

"I'm here," he says. The gravity of the ship has managed to keep him inside, despite the rift into space that almost tore him away. But JAMES doesn't respond, and he has to worry.

He opens his eyes to the sight of darkness, and takes down the blastshield. The barrage is over.

"Q-Q-Qrow."

It hurts, but he tries to orient himself in what is left of the _Alexander._

"What happened?" he asks.

"The ship survived the attack. But only just. The main structure has yet to disintegrate entirely."

"I'll grab the cake, then."

“The m-main power and life support are c-completely destroyed. Hull is b-breached on most of the ship. The vortex c-containment field will c-collapse shortly.”

“So no cake, then.”

“N-no cake, yes.” Qrow flips from the ceiling to the floor, and tries to take stock of his injuries. He suspects that if he put weight on his left leg it would hurt, but since the gravity is out he can just drift. He can feel pain in his arms, too, and well…everywhere, but his leg is the most acute. And he feels like he’s going to vomit if he lets himself. Which would be bad in a space suit.

“The…”

“M-mostly dead. Or dying.”

“I don’t feel all that great,” Qrow says, holding onto his stomach with one hand and a bar on the wall.

“You were exposed to heavy r-radiation.”

“Well, that sounds absolutely great,” he answers.

“You will d-die if you do not receive tr-treatment shortly.”

Qrow nods. The motion aches a bit.

“It will be very p-painful,” it adds, and Qrow has the presence of mind to snort at the addition. Really? Does JAMES have to add fuel to the fire?

“Great.”

“It m-may be a c-comfort to know that you only have t-two hours left of oxygen in your suit.”

Well, now he can die sooner. “Hooray?”

“And, of c-course, the vortex containment field will c-collapse in somewhere around twenty m-minutes.”

“Excellent.” He rolls his eyes.

“You should g-go, Qrow.”

“Where the hell can I go?” he asks.

“There is an escape pod three levels up. You sh-should be able to jury rig it into f-f-functional status and get out of the b-blast radius.”

“And what would be the point? The _Explorer_ isn’t coming back for me. I’ll be drifting into the black.”

“Perhaps you will not live, but the story will, as opposed to being d-destroyed when the vortex collapses. I am c-currently uploading files to your device a record of everything that has conspired since the attack on B-Beacon.”

He’s tired of it all. But…he only has to fight a little longer, and then he can brave whatever comes next.

He needs to rest. A part of him says that he’s had enough rest, but the urge to close his eyes, if only for a moment, is overwhelming.

“Qrow?” JAMES asks, gentle in tone. “I-I would like t-to show you something.” Even in its glitching, JAMES still has the presence of mind…

“Where?” he answers in a whisper.

“Three levels up.”

Three minutes pass.

“T-twenty-four minutes until vortex collapse.”

“Okay, I’m going,” he says, pushing away from the wall. The pain, well, hurts. He drifts into the hall, burnt. It’s almost as though the afflicted were never banging down the door, trying to flush him out.

He is suddenly grateful that every stairwell has a railing. The support is very much needed.

When he gets up those three levels, he spots the escape pod that JAMES wanted him to reach.

But, most of all, he sees _light._ More stars than he’s ever seen before, more of _everything._

It’s stunning.

“Do you see?” JAMES asks. He doesn’t answer. “The universe d-does not owe you anything.” Qrow knows that. “It has given us so much. It has been here since long before us, and will still exist long after we are gone.”

So, he has to make sure that the universe will keep him in existence.

Qrow might have a high tolerance for pain, but climbing stairs certainly did him no favors.

“Who will remember all those who fell at Beacon? Who will r-remember Sergeant Amin or Miss Hill or your sister?”

“I…”

He takes a step towards the escape pod.

One step at a time. That’s all he can handle.

“I guess this is goodbye.” He swallows.

“N-not quite yet. I-I am uncertain of what will happen upon the vortex’s c-collapse, but I will st-stay with you as long as I can.”

He climbs into the escape pod. It’s still disabled, but JAMES instructs him on how to undo the previous actions, and he takes on the code with surprising swiftness.

“Remember to put on your seatbelt.” Qrow can almost picture JAMES smiling, but he doesn’t know what JAMES would look like.

Qrow sighs and puts his seatbelt on before hitting the “Eject” button. The engines roar to life, and take him away from the corpse of the _Alexander._

“Five m-minutes.”

“That isn’t very long,” Qrow answers weakly.

“The remainder of a lifetime,” JAMES answers.

“Are you afraid?” He just needs to know that he isn’t alone.

“Y-yes.”

“Remember what you told me?”

“I-I now understand why you found n-no comfort in it.”

He’s tempted to laugh, but he suspects that it would only hurt more.

“Two m-minutes.”

Qrow can’t see the _Alexander_ anymore. He hopes that means he’s out of range.

“Sixty seconds. I am uncertain what I will b-be after this.”

“I’m with you.”

“That is all I need.”

“Goodbye, JAMES.” And Qrow feels a wave of guilt for feeling sadness, but for at least a few hours, they were allies.

Friends.

“Goodbye, Qrow.”

“I’ll tell them.” That in the end, JAMES helped. That in the end, they worked together to save the _Explorer._

“I-I know.”

He doesn’t see the collapse, but he senses the silence, a ripple in the universe.

And then he sets about to making sure that when he drifts into the black, they’ll know what to do with the remains.

“My name is Qrow Branwen. I lived on the planet Beacon 1124. If this recording is discovered, please honor my last wishes by passing copies to any court or organization conducting an inquiry into the attack on Beacon, and as many media outlets as possible, and really anyone willing to listen. If it just gets out to one place, it won’t see the light of day.” He coughs, attempting to speak between it. Only a little more.

Qrow details that he has information on his datapad, that the Inner Circle Dust Company is responsible.

He stops the recording, and closes his eyes.

* * *

“This is science vessel _Explorer_ hailing any survivors.” It repeats a few times before he opens his eyes.

“Qrow, do you copy?”

Qrow hits the communicator on his escape pod. “Summer?” His voice sounds gravelly even to his own ears.

They pull him in, slowly but surely. He notices that he lands in the same place that he started in.

The door opens, and he cautiously looks around before clamoring out.

The sight of a doctor in a hazmat suit greets him.

“Help,” Qrow whispers, and the doctor lends him support so he can reach the bed. Table. Something.

The doctor opens their kit, extracting a syringe. “This shot will combat the radiation poisoning. You’ll need a transfusion too, but this should help you feel better.”

Good.

He closes his eyes as he feels the shot. Apparently the effects aren’t instantaneous.

“You’re quarantined for fourteen days. I will return with food and fluids. But you must give up the datapad now.”

He glares and holds it tighter.

“It has radiation in it. It needs to be decontaminated.”

He reluctantly lets go of the device that has been his lifeline.

“I’ll give it back.”

It’s quiet.

There is no one else.

* * *

After the first day, the shot finally kicks in, and not everything hurts when he moves.

A couple days, and he can walk around in the bay, pacing in his quarantine.

They give him back his clothes after seven days. He’s allowed to change back into them, at least.

The two weeks pass faster than expected, and the doors open to let him into the ship at large.

No symptoms. It seems that he really did inherit Clover’s luck after he…

“Qrow!” He turns his head. It’s… 

They embrace tightly, and then back away a little bit, still holding each other. "I can't believe this is real," Clover says.

"I almost can't either," Qrow answers, "but I've fought too hard for it not to be. I thought you were dead."

“Well, I’m not. I was injured in getting out and was with the group in the shuttles.” Qrow nods with understanding.

There’s more to recount, later.

But they're together again. Finally.


End file.
